Hunter Biden has once again asked the federal judge overseeing his felony gun case in Delaware to dismiss the charges against him, outlining four reasons why the indictment should be thrown out, court documents show.
In a flurry of motions filed Tuesday in Delaware district court, lawyers for the 53-year-old first son argued that his case should be dismissed due to a diversion agreement granting Biden broad immunity related to the weapons charges — even though the measure was struck down.
They also claimed the offenses Hunter Biden has been charged with might be unconstitutional on Second Amendment grounds; the top prosecutor in the case is an illegitimate special counsel; and the charges are politically motivated.
The motions were filed in response to Special Council David Weiss’ Jan. 16 rebuttal to Biden’s first attempt to convince District Judge Maryellen Noreika to drop the case.
“The prosecution is bound by the agreements that it makes, approves, and signs with a defendant, just as it often seeks to hold defendants to the terms of the agreements that defendants make and sign,” Biden’s attorneys Abbe Lowell and Bartholomew J. Dalton write in one motion.
“No matter how fervently the prosecution’s decision to enter into the Diversion Agreement is criticized by extremist Republican politicians and the right-wing press, the prosecution remains bound by the agreement it struck.”
“The Court must not allow the prosecution to renege on its agreement.”
This past July, Biden appeared set to receive sweeping immunity protection under a plea agreement he reached with federal prosecutors that would have enabled him to avoid prosecution on felony charges of possessing a firearm while addicted to crack cocaine and lying about his drug use when he purchased the Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver. But the deal fell apart in a Delaware courtroom.
A month later, Weiss, the Delaware US attorney, was granted special counsel status by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Biden’s legal team argues that he was improperly appointed special counsel.
“Special Counsel Weiss is not authorized to prosecute this case or bring this indictment,” Lowell and Dalton write, arguing that regulations require that “[t]he Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government” and that Weiss’ status as a US attorney makes him ineligible to serve in the role.
“The problem here is that Mr. Weiss is not eligible to be a Special Counsel because he already is part of the United States government as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, so he is not independent of the United States government,” the lawyers argue.
Lowell and Dalton also make the case that the Weiss’ prosecution of Biden has been “selective and vindictive,” arguing that the special counsel caved to Republican pressure to go after the president’s son.
“[W]e know exactly how Mr. Weiss would have resolved this case absent outside pressure to treat Mr. Biden more harshly because Mr. Weiss did try to resolve,” the motion states, pointing, once again, to last year’s diversion deal and plea agreement.
“That is, until Mr. Weiss was under pressure and heavy criticism from Republican extremists arose,” the filing continues. “In response to that outcry from former President Trump, extremist House Republicans and right-wing media looking to make Mr. Biden’s fate a political issue in the next presidential election, the prosecution blew up that deal and now has brought felony charges against Mr. Biden both here in Delaware and in California and is seeking a heavy prison sentence for charges the prosecution was willing to resolve for probation just months ago.”
Finally, Lowell and Dalton ask that the judge to, at the very least, wait for “guidance from the Supreme Court” on pending Second Amendment cases “before allowing this case to proceed to trial.”
“However, even without further guidance from future Supreme Court decisions, the current law supports dismissal of the counts in this indictment,” they write, citing rulings handed down by lower courts, including the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals which oversees Delaware.
Biden’s attorneys also asked Noreika to hold an evidentiary hearing, arguing that Weiss “has made three voluminous productions that contain almost nothing responsive to Mr. Biden’s specific requests” and hasn’t responded to further requests for documents.
The first son has pleaded not guilty to the gun charges and is prepared to head to trial.
Biden is also facing nine counts related to tax fraud — including three felony charges — filed against him in Southern California by Weiss’ team of prosecutors. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case earlier this month.
