Hunter Biden lawyers ask Delaware judge to dismiss gun charges
Lawyers for first son Hunter Biden asked a Delaware federal judge in four separate motions Monday to dismiss weapons charges brought by special counsel David Weiss.
Attorneys Abbe Lowell and Bartholomew Dalton requested that US District Judge Maryellen Noreika throw out the case, arguing in turn that the indictment violated a past agreement between the 53-year-old and the government, is based on an unconstitutional firearms statute and that Weiss was unlawfully appointed to special counsel status.
A fourth motion to dismiss claims the case is a “selective and vindictive prosecution” of the first son and “a breach of separation of powers” because Weiss “buckled under political pressure” from former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
“After five years of a thorough (and what was and must continue to be a very expensive) investigation, U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, decided to resolve the entire investigation of Mr. Biden through a Diversion Agreement concerning a firearm charge and a separate Plea Agreement to resolve tax-related misdemeanor charges,” the lawyers wrote.
“This is the resolution Mr. Weiss suggested and wanted; his office signed the Diversion Agreement, which was effective upon execution by the parties, and the Plea Agreement, which his Office argued this Court should accept in open court,” they said.
“Because the facts in the case did not change and the law only became more difficult for such prosecutions, the public record supports no conclusion other than Mr. Weiss changed his decision because he buckled under political pressure to bring more severe charges.”
A spokesman for Weiss’ office declined to comment.
The four filings, which run a total of 111 pages, came after Lowell previewed his arguments Monday morning on MSNBC.
“It’s because he is the son of the president who’s named Biden,” Lowell told “Morning Joe” of the case against his client. “Republicans … have tried and tried to say that President Biden has done something wrong. They can’t find a shred of evidence.”
He reiterated that the new charges were “not [because of] a change of the facts, not a change of the law, but the enormous pressure that was put on by Republicans from former President [Donald] Trump to the chairpeople of House committees to demand that something more be done.”
In September, Weiss slapped Hunter with three counts of making false statements about his drug use and unlawfully buying a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 — during which time the now-president’s offspring was, by his own admission, addicted to crack cocaine.
His attorneys referred to the case in their Monday motions as “a gun charge that is widely violated, yet almost never prosecuted.”
Hunter’s attorneys argued in August court filings that federal prosecutors had reneged on a plea agreement with the first son, which blew up July 26 after Noreika questioned the scope of its immunity provision.
In Monday’s motions, Lowell and Dalton said both parties had signed a diversion agreement granting Hunter “immunity for any offense concerning his purchase of a firearm (among other offenses).”
Those “other offenses” potentially would have included other tax charges, money laundering, bribery and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, providing Hunter Biden broad immunity from future prosecution.
Lastweek, nine counts related to tax fraud — including three felony charges — were filed against Hunter Biden in Southern California by Weiss’ team of prosecutors.
But the first son’s attorneys claimed Monday that their has continued to abide by the terms of that first agreement struck with Weiss’ office, including several probationary measures such as drug tests and limits on foreign travel.
They also pointed to a ruling earlier this year by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that they say renders the statute under which Hunter is being prosecuted unconstitutional.
“Because persons protected by the Second Amendment can no longer be denied gun ownership due simply to past drug use …” the attorneys said, “any false statement by Mr. Biden concerning his status as having used a controlled substance no longer concerns ‘any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale’ of a firearm.”
They further note that Weiss’ appointment as special counsel violates Justice Department regulations, which require such prosecutors to “be selected from outside the United States Government.”
Former President Donald Trump appointed Weiss as Delaware US attorney in 2017 at the recommendation of the state’s Democratic senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper.
Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated the prosecutor to special counsel status Aug. 11, though he still remains the US attorney in Delaware.
Hunter’s attorneys also asked Noreika to hold an evidentiary hearing to “to further develop the record” of Weiss’ office having purportedly mishandled the case, including following up on subpoenas to Trump administration officials, including the former president and ex-Attorney General William Barr.
The first son has pleaded not guilty to the gun charges and is prepared to head to trial early next year.
