Prosecutors went after Hunter Biden’s attorneys during an hours-long hearing Wednesday on several motions to dismiss criminal tax evasion charges against the president’s son.
The first son did not appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, but his attorney Abbe Lowell argued in favor of dismissing what he claimed were politically motivated charges. He said the government was perpetrating “the least ordinary prosecution a person could imagine.”
The tax charges against President Biden’s son stemmed from a years-long investigation conducted by Special Counsel David Weiss. Lowell claimed that the timeline of the case showed misdemeanor charges against the Hunter Biden into several felonies.
As Special Counsel Attorney Leo Wise made his arguments against dismissing the case, Lowell shook his head multiple times, appearing annoyed.
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“When you don’t have the facts you attack the law. When you don’t have the law you attack the facts. When you don’t have the facts or the law, you attack the prosecutors,” Wise said at one point in reference to Lowell, calling his arguments in favor of dismissal “fact-free pleadings.”
Hunter Biden, center, and his attorneys Abbe Lowell, right, and Kevin Morris, left, leave the House Oversight and Accountability Committee markup titled “Resolution Recommending That The House Of Representatives Find Robert Hunter Biden In Contempt Of Congress,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Wise said Abbe Lowell has attacked the prosecution for working for Jim Jordan, Biden and Putin. “These are fact-free pleadings.”
Judge Mark Scarsi, who presided over the proceedings in the packed courtroom, cut off representatives for both sides several times. He said he plans to rule on several motions to dismiss federal tax charges against Hunter Biden by April 17.
As the hearing wrapped, Scarsi noted that all sides had agreed on a next pre-trial hearing in Los Angeles on May 29 at 1 p.m.
Previously, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to all nine federal tax charges stemming from Weiss’ investigation. Hunter’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 20.
Weiss charged Hunter Biden in December, alleging a “four-year scheme” when the president’s son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.
The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.
In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.”
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The special counsel alleged that Hunter “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” and that in 2018, he “stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015.”
Hunter Biden, center, and his attorneys Abbe Lowell, right, and Kevin Morris, left, arrive for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee markup titled “Resolution Recommending That The House Of Representatives Find Robert Hunter Biden In Contempt Of Congress,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Lowell is also seeking to dismiss gun charges Weiss brought against Biden in Delaware.
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The president’s son pleaded not guilty to all counts in October.
Lowell also argued in court Wednesday that a diversion agreement on the tax charges was still in effect.
The diversion agreement was included as part of the original plea deal that collapsed in July. Biden was set to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, which would allow him to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. That deal fell apart during his last court appearance. The president’s son, in July, was then forced to plead not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge when the deal collapsed in court.
Fox News’s Lee Ross contributed to this report.
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