A Los Angeles federal judge has warned first son Hunter Biden to keep up with pre-trial deadlines in his tax fraud case while he awaits an appeals court ruling on his longshot bid to get the rap thrown out.
US District Judge Mark Scarsi rejected prosecutors’ request Thursday to force President Biden’s 54-year-old son to hand over documents — including proposed jury instructions — ahead of the scheduled June 20 trial start.
But the judge still admonished the presidential offspring: “To be clear, the court has not vacated the pretrial schedule, and absent a request for relief, Mr. Biden ignores the court’s orders at his own peril.
“If the Ninth Circuit [Court of Appeals] dismisses the interlocutory appeal for lack of jurisdiction, the court intends to proceed to trial without significant delay.”
The Biden scion filed a notice of appeal with the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit fighting Scarsi’s ruling denying his bid to toss out the tax fraud charges on the grounds of “selective and vindictive” prosecution.
Prosecutors in special counsel David Weiss’ office Tuesday called Hunter’s appeal “a stunt to delay his trial,” and asked Scarsi to order Biden to turn over the documents after he missed a court ordered deadline.
Rather than asking Scarsi to pause the case while he appeals, Hunter Biden’s team had said the case is now in the appellate court’s hands and they don’t need to stick to the trial schedule until the higher court rules.
Scarsi said he wouldn’t grant prosecutors’ motion, in part, because he believed the Ninth Circuit would issue a swift ruling, just like the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit did in allowing the gun case against Hunter Biden to proceed Thursday.
“The court anticipates that the Ninth Circuit may resolve the motion before it in a similarly expeditious manner,” Scarsi wrote. “The court, therefore, declines at this time to substitute its judgement for the judgement of the Ninth Circuit on its own jurisdiction.”
The younger Biden faces six misdemeanor and three felony counts in the tax case for allegedly failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal income taxes for the years 2016 through 2019.
Instead, the first son burned through funds meant for Uncle Sam on an “extravagant” lifestyle — including “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” prosecutors have alleged.
Hunter also faces trial beginning June 3 in Delaware on three weapons charges stemming from allegations he illegally owned a gun while addicted to drugs.
The first son has denied all the charges.
Biden’s lawyers and the Department of Justice both didn’t immediately return requests for comment Friday.
