A federal judge in California will soon decide the fate of Special Counsel David Weiss’s prosecution of Hunter Biden for allegedly failing to file and pay his taxes between 2016 and 2019, when he was actively addicted to drugs, cavorting with prostitutes, and raking in millions of dollars from overseas business deals. Biden’s lawyers will <a href="https://ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov/doc1/031142916946">face</a> the jurist at Los Angeles on Monday and argue that Mr. Weiss was illegally appointed to his position of special counsel, and has no standing to bring the case against the first son.&nbsp;



Biden has already been <a href="https://www.nysun.com/article/hunter-biden-found-guilty-on-all-counts-in-felony-gun-case-could-face-prison">convicted</a> on three charges related to his drug use at the time he bought a gun in 2018 — charges that Mr. Weiss also brought, but in both men’s home state of Delaware. The trial for <a href="https://www.nysun.com/article/hunter-biden-indicted-on-nine-tax-charges-as-special-counsel-investigation-intensifies">failing</a> to pay taxes is due to begin in <a href="https://ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov/doc1/031142870758">earnest</a> on September 9, though that could change if Judge Mark Scarsi sides with the first son’s lawyers.&nbsp;



The defense attorneys draw their argument from two deeply conservative jurists on the opposite coast — Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge Aileen Cannon. In the presidential immunity case earlier this month, Justice Thomas raised, in a concurring opinion, the prospect that Special Counsel Jack Smith may have been appointed to his post illegally. Just two weeks later, Judge Cannon — who is overseeing Mr. Smith’s prosecution of President Trump for allegedly improperly retaining classified documents — <a href="https://www.nysun.com/article/justice-thomas-signals-judge-cannon-that-jack-smiths-troubles-in-trump-prosecution-could-worsen">dismissed</a> the indictment based, in part, on Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion.&nbsp;



Biden’s attorneys say the same rule should apply to Mr. Weiss and therefore to him.&nbsp;



“On July 1, 2024, in Trump v. United States, which concerned former President Trump’s immunity claims with respect to an indictment brought by a different Special Counsel, Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion raising a more fundamental antecedent question of whether the Special Counsel was validly appointed under the Appropriations Clause,” Biden’s attorney, Mark Geragos, <a href="https://ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov/doc1/031142853436">writes</a> in a filing to Judge Scarsi. “Guided by Justice Thomas’ opinion, Judge Cannon dismissed an indictment against Mr. Trump this week because the Special Counsel was unconstitutionally appointed.”



Mr. Geragos argues that the Constitution’s Appointments Clause was violated because Mr. Weiss was summarily appointed to his position by Attorney General Garland. Mr. Weiss had been nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate to his position as Delaware’s United States attorney in 2018.&nbsp;



“The Appointments Clause requires the President nominate and the Senate confirm principal officials of the United States, but the positions of inferior officials ‘established by Law’ may be filled through appointments by the President or the heads of departments,” Mr. Geragos writes, arguing that Mr. Weiss received no such approval from the Senate in becoming special counsel, and that no existing law permits his appointment.&nbsp;



Mr. Geragos argues that the prosecutor for the district where Biden is being prosecuted, Martin Estrada of the Central District of California, is being supplanted by a hand-picked lawyer from the opposite coast. Mr. Geragos cites that Mr. Estrada himself declined to participate in the prosecution as evidence of the charges not only lacking substantive merit, but standing before a district court judge.&nbsp;



In response to the motion to dismiss the indictment, Judge Scarsi made no hint as to how he may rule, though he did admonish Biden’s attorneys for “<a href="https://www.nysun.com/article/judge-threatens-to-fine-hunter-biden-over-attorneys-false-claims-in-motion-to-dismiss">misinterpreting</a>” the history of Biden’s legal troubles with Mr. Weiss. The first son’s attorneys had erroneously stated that he was never charged by the special counsel, though Biden was preparing to plead <a href="https://www.nysun.com/article/hunter-biden-will-plead-guilty-to-tax-fraud-charges-ending-one-federal-inquiry-into-the-troubled-first-son">guilty</a> to two charges before his so-called sweetheart plea deal fell <a href="https://www.nysun.com/article/judge-refuses-to-accept-hunter-biden-plea-agreement-after-chaotic-hearing-presidents-son-pleads-not-guilty-and-now-could-face-prison">apart</a> in 2023.&nbsp;



Mr. Geragos clarified his statements in a <a href="https://ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov/doc1/031142916827">response</a> filing, saying that he made his argument “inartfully.”



Mr. Weiss’s line prosecutors — Leo Wise and Derek Hines, who also appeared for the government and won the conviction of Biden at the Delaware gun trial — say Judge Scarsi should not accept Biden’s motion to dismiss. They say the defense’s argument contains “numerous misrepresentations” about the case.&nbsp;



“This Court has already rejected the defendant’s challenge to Special Counsel Weiss’s appointment and funding,” Messrs. Wise and Hines write. “Another district court in the District of Delaware has done the same. The defendant provides no reason why this Court should deviate from its prior ruling, and indeed, there is no basis for doing so.”



In December, Biden was indicted on nine counts of failing to file and failing to pay his taxes. The <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.907805/gov.uscourts.cacd.907805.1.0_1.pdf">indictment</a> claims Biden’s gross income was nearly $8 million between 2016 and 2019, when he was working for overseas businesses and individuals clients, and while he was also actively addicted to drugs and alcohol.&nbsp;



Biden spent more than half of that money on personal expenses, including more than $1.5 million in cash withdrawals at a time when he was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine. He also spent nearly $700,000 on payments to “various women,” $400,000 on clothing and accessories, and $300,000 on his children’s tuition. Biden dispersed more than $70,000 for rehabilitation and nearly $200,000 on “adult entertainment.”



He faces four misdemeanor charges of failing to pay his taxes, two misdemeanor charges of failing to file, two felony counts of failing to file, and one felony charge of filing a false return. If convicted, Biden faces up to 17 years in federal prison and a hefty fine.&nbsp;

Hunter Biden departs from a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Hunter Biden’s Lawyers Seek To Have His Tax Evasion Case Thrown Out, Citing Trump’s Victory in Mar-a-Lago Case

Biden’s lawyers argue that Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling that Special Counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed should apply to the prosecutor coming for the first son as well.

Hunter Biden’s Lawyers Seek To Have His Tax Evasion Case Thrown Out, Citing Trump’s Victory in Mar-a-Lago Case | The New York Sun

Home

The New York Sun

https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/the-new-york-sun-og.jpg

Afrikaner refugees from South Africa holding American flags arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport.

Citing Racial Bias by Trump Administration, Episcopal Church Opts Out of Federal Refugee Resettlement Funding Rather Than Accept White South Africans

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.

EPA Administrator Promises Action To Eliminate Automatic Engine Shut-Off Devices Now Common in American Vehicles

President Trump signs an executive order during an event in the East Room of the White House, April 8, 2025, at Washington.

Trump and His Inner Circle Are Entertaining Something a Critic Calls ‘Nuts’: Suspension of Habeas Corpus To Jump-Start Deportations

New York Republicans like Representative Elise Stefanik have already issued their displeasure with the bill, saying that a $30,000 cap is “insulting” to their voters. 

Republicans Unveil $4 Trillion Tax Bill Including Trump’s Elimination of Taxes on Tips and Overtime

CBS News has been denounced by President Trump for its editing of the '60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview.

Settlement Talks Between Paramount and Trump ‘End With a Whimper’: Two Sides Too ‘Far Apart’ on Resolving CBS News ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

A Boeing aircraft that President Trump toured amid concerns about delays of the new Air Force One takes off from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2025.

Qatargate: Now an Ultra-Luxurious Jumbo Jet for President Trump’s Use

The Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, May 7, 2025, at Washington. 

Guess Who’s Worrying About the Fed’s Dual Mandate

The United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, left, and Secretary Bessent at Geneva, May 12, 2025.

Hunter Biden’s Lawyers Seek To Have His Tax Evasion Case Thrown Out, Citing Trump’s Victory in Mar-a-Lago Case

To continue reading, please select:

Enter your email to read for FREE

Join the Sun for a PENNY A DAY

Sections

More

Sign in or create a free account

A login link has been sent to