Hunter Biden’s lawyers lashed out at special counsel David Weiss after suffering a major setback in court Monday to dismiss tax charges against his eldest son.
Attorney Abby Lowell argued that the tax charges against Mr. Hunter, 54, were “selective and retaliatory,” but U.S. District Judge Mark Scalsi said Mr. Lowell was “a party to prosecutorial decisions.” “It’s just speculation about the hostility that motivated it,” he concluded.
But Lowell pushed back with a statement pledging to fight Weiss’ accusations.
“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will continue to vigorously pursue Mr. Biden’s challenges to the special counsel’s unusual approach to this investigation and prosecution,” the attorney said.
Mr. Weiss, a Trump appointee who was elevated to special counsel last August after a plea deal with his scandal-plagued eldest son fell through, indicted Mr. Hunter on four years of alleged tax planning.
Mr. Scalsi, a Trump appointee, is active in the Central District of California and has criticized Mr. Lowell’s series of scathing motions to dismiss the tax charges against Mr. Hunter, and flagged several factual errors Part of his briefs.
“Politicians take credit for many things over which they have no authority and no influence,” Scalci wrote. “Just because someone says they influenced a prosecutor’s decision doesn’t mean they did.”
Weiss’ team had fought back against Lowell’s accusations in court.
“The defendant is fabricating a conspiracy theory that the prosecutor’s office has ‘raised fees’ to appease politicians who have no connection to the prosecutor’s office and are not even members of the current government,” prosecutors wrote last month.
Prosecutors alleged that Hunter failed to pay federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 and falsified records. He owed Uncle Sam a total of $1.4 million, which he has since repaid.
The tax charges against him include six misdemeanors and three felonies.
Rowell slammed the tax charges filed by Weiss last year, saying the plea deal covering those alleged violations was crippled by outside pressure from “Republican extremists and the right-wing media.” insisted.
In a dramatic court hearing in July, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika broke the agreement and exposed the conflict between the prosecution and defense over issues such as whether he could enjoy blanket immunity. .
Lowell maintained that the previous agreement was still binding.
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to all nine tax charges and three charges related to illegal possession of a firearm while under the influence of illegal drugs.
Separately, the eldest son’s attorney is also seeking to have firearms charges against the eldest son, who lives in Delaware, dismissed.
Hunter’s trial in California on tax crime charges is scheduled to begin jury selection on June 20th. Meanwhile, Hunter’s trial in Delaware on firearms charges is tentatively set for June 3.
