Hunter Biden’s legal team filed eight motions in an attempt to dismiss the federal tax evasion case against him, but all of them were denied by a U.S. district court judge. The judge stated that one of the motions was filed “without any evidence.” Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him. This decision by Judge Mark Scarsi has been described as a “stinging rebuke” by George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley.
The judge emphasized the lack of actual evidence presented by Hunter Biden’s defense team in their arguments. One of the arguments made by the defense was that Hunter Biden had been targeted by his father’s political enemies, but the judge found no reasonable inference or clear evidence to support this claim. The defense also made the questionable assertion that if a politician claims to have done something, it must be true.
“But politicians take credit for many things over which they have no power and have made no impact,” Scarsi argued, according to NBC. “As counsel conceded at the hearing, just because someone says they influenced a prosecutorial decision does not mean that they did.”
Turley contended that, being the president’s son, Hunter Biden did receive special treatment; however, he argued that this treatment was advantageous to him rather than being aimed at him.
“Hunter Biden has been arguing that he is the victim of selective prosecution despite a documented history of receiving special treatment as the son of the President,” Turley wrote. “However, he has proven a key witness against himself in swatting down defenses raised by his counsel and publishing self-incriminating facts in his book.”
“The filings also did not address the fact that the Justice Department not only allowed the statute of limitations to run on major crimes, but sought to finalize an obscene plea agreement with no jail time for Hunter,” he added.
“It only fell apart when a judge decided to ask a couple of cursory questions of the prosecutor, who admitted that he had never seen an agreement this generous for a defendant.”
It comes as no surprise that Abbe Lowell, the attorney representing Hunter Biden, expressed his disagreement with the judge’s decision to dismiss his legal arguments.
“We strongly disagree with the Court’s decision and will continue to vigorously pursue Mr. Biden’s challenges to the abnormal way the Special Counsel handled this investigation and charged this case,” he said in a statement.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys will have approximately two months to reflect on the situation and prepare for the upcoming status conference set for May 29, as pointed out by Turley.
The trial for Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges is set to commence the month after, as reported by NBC.
