A US district court judge denied eight motions from Hunter Biden’s legal team seeking to dismiss his federal tax evasion case.
The motions included arguments that Biden was targeted due to his father’s political position.
However, the judge said one motion provided no evidence and that politicians often take credit for things they didn’t influence.
“[T]he defense omits one thing from its argument: actual evidence,” U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said.
Hunter’s team “fail[ed] to present a reasonable inference, let alone clear evidence, of discriminatory effect and discriminatory purpose,” Scarsi wrote.
“But politicians take credit for many things over which they have no power and have made no impact,” Scarsi said. “As counsel conceded at the hearing, just because someone says they influenced a prosecutorial decision does not mean that they did.”
A law professor said this was a “stinging rebuke” as the defense provided no actual evidence.
The judge also rejected the argument that special counsel prosecution meant targeting, as Hunter likely received special treatment by not facing more serious charges or jail time.
“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,” law professor Jonathan 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.”
Hunter’s attorney disagreed with the dismissals, maintaining the investigation was abnormal.
His legal challenges will continue ahead of a status conference in May and currently scheduled gun charges trial in June.
“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,” said Biden attorney Abbe Lowell.
