Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s troubled son, faced another big legal setback in his ongoing battle to stay out of prison.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi rejected Hunter’s latest attempt to dismiss tax evasion charges. The ruling, issued Monday, ensures that Biden will face trial next month in California on nine federal tax-related charges.
Biden’s legal team had sought to have the case thrown out by citing a recent ruling in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
In that instance, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s federal indictment, arguing that special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys attempted to apply the same logic to their client’s case, claiming that special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the investigations into Hunter Biden, was similarly appointed in violation of the Constitution… by his father’s own administration.
Judge Scarsi rejected Hunter’s argument.
“The Court declines to reach the merits of the motion because there is no valid basis for reconsideration of the Court’s order denying Mr. Biden’s motion to dismiss the indictment for Appropriations and Appointments Clause violations,” he ruled.
Scarsi noted that Biden’s team was attempting to relitigate issues that had already been settled regarding Weiss’s appointment.
The charges against Hunter Biden are very serious. He is accused of a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in taxes. Specifically, he faces charges of evasion of assessment, failure to file and pay taxes, and filing false or fraudulent tax returns. Biden has pleaded not guilty to all nine counts.
This tax case is not Biden’s only legal challenge. In June, he was convicted on three felony charges related to a gun purchase in 2018. The mounting legal troubles have kept the president’s son in the spotlight and continue to be a source of political controversy.
Biden’s attorneys have previously tried to have the tax charges dismissed based on whistleblower disclosures by IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.
These agents alleged that the Justice Department had slow-walked and obstructed the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes.
Biden is suing the IRS agents for what his lawyers claim are illegal whistleblower disclosures.
As the September 5 trial date approaches, prosecutors have revealed new details about Biden’s business dealings, including his involvement in a Romanian business scheme that brought in $3 million for Biden and his partners.