Hunter Biden, the current president’s son, has been facing a federal investigation begun under former President Donald Trump.
Now, the younger Biden is accusing the Trump administration of strongarming federal prosecutors into filing the charges, and he’s asked a judge to approve subpoenas for documents from Trump.
Biden’s attorneys wrote, “Public reporting reveals certain instances that appear to suggest incessant, improper, and partisan pressure.” Namely, they accused Trump of pressuring his attorney general and the attorney general’s two top deputies, Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue.
The court filing cites public comments made by Trump, information from the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and details from Barr’s book in which he described bubbling tension after Trump tried to pressure him over the status of the Hunter Biden probe.
Team Biden wrote —
Mr. Biden seeks specific information from three former DOJ officials and the former President that goes to the heart of his defense that this is, possibly, a vindictive or selective prosecution arising from an unrelenting pressure campaign beginning in the last administration, in violation of Mr. Biden’s Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution…
In the lead up to the 2020 election, IRS case files show certain investigative decisions were made ‘as a result of guidance provided’ by, among others, ‘the Deputy Attorney General’s office.’
Prosecutors only brought charges against Hunter Biden this year, under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Hunter Biden had been expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges over the summer in an agreement with prosecutors that spared him prosecution on the gun count if he stayed out of trouble for two years. But that agreement imploded after a judge raised questions about it during a July hearing.
He was indicted again in September on three new gun charges, unrelated to his tax charges.
The push for a subpoena comes as defense attorneys fight the federal firearms case filed against Hunter Biden, who is accused of breaking laws against drug users having guns. He has pleaded not guilty, and the case is on a track toward a possible trial in 2024 while his father, a Democrat who defeated Trump in 2020, is campaigning for reelection.
The special counsel overseeing the case has indicated that new tax charges are possible in Washington or in California, where Hunter Biden lives.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, is overseeing the case. Trump’s spokesperson has yet to respond publicly.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contribtued to this article.