Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has been denied his motion to dismiss tax evasion charges against him by a federal judge. This decision paves the way for a criminal trial to proceed. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss is prosecuting Hunter Biden on both tax charges and felony gun charges. Judge Mark Scarsi, on Monday, rejected all of Hunter Biden’s arguments to dismiss the charges, stating that the government’s case has sufficient merit to proceed to trial.
Hunter Biden’s legal team had contended that the charges should be dismissed based on a prior plea agreement in June 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, which was invalidated by a federal judge from that court. Additionally, Hunter Biden argued that the prosecution against him was politically motivated and violated his constitutional rights, including the separation of powers and due process. However, the trial judge dismissed all of these arguments in an 82-page ruling.
“Defendant asserts he is situated similarly to individuals who did not timely pay income tax for tax year 2019 but received leniency due to COVID-19 relief programs…The Government alleges Defendant’s nonpayment extended well before the emergence of COVID-19 and leniency programs thereunder, providing a legitimate prosecutorial reason to pursue the charge in Count 9 against him and not other individuals who failed to timely pay their 2019 taxes,” wrote Judge Marc Scarsi.
Hunter Biden faces nine federal charges including tax evasion, tax fraud, and failure to file taxes from 2016 to 2019. The indictment claims that instead of paying the $1.4 million in taxes he owed, Hunter used the money for payments to women, adult entertainment, and pornography. Additionally, he is under investigation for possessing a firearm while under the influence of drugs in Delaware. Furthermore, he is at the center of an impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives regarding his father’s business dealings in Ukraine and China while Joe Biden was vice president.
