Special counsel David Weiss criticized two of Hunter Biden’s attorneys after their motion to dismiss his California tax fraud case, arguing it was based on false premises and filed too late.
Biden’s lawyers Abbe Lowell and Mark Geragos previously cited former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case being thrown out as the reason they are again asking Judge Mark Scarsi to revisit the February motion to dismiss Biden’s nine tax fraud charges because Weiss was unlawfully appointed to his position.
Biden is set to face trial in Los Angeles starting on September 9 for multiple tax-related charges stemming from allegations that he failed to report significant income and engaged in various financial misdeeds.
However, Scarsi pointed out key differences between the two cases, undermining the defense’s comparison and raising questions about the integrity of the information presented in their filing.
Weiss countered that his appointment was lawful and distinct from cases involving private citizens. The court identified inaccuracies in Biden’s request, with potential sanctions for misleading statements.
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Weiss claims in a response Monday that Biden’s lawyers know it’s too late to file that motion as the first son is set to go to trial on September 9 and “belatedly filed” the new request six months after the deadline.
Scarsi accused Biden’s lawyers last week in court documents of making potentially false statements regarding the timeline of charges against Biden in his tax case. He said the lawyers’ motion inaccurately represented the timeline of Weiss’s actions, prompting him to threaten sanctions against the lawyers.
Scarsi demanded that the attorneys respond by July 31 explaining why they should not be fined for making false statements.
Lowell and Geragos responded in court docs this week, stating they meant to say that Weiss hadn’t brought “indictments” rather than “charges” as they originally claimed against Biden as a US attorney.
“Defense counsel clearly did not intend to make false statements or mislead the court,” the lawyers wrote in docs obtained by Newsweek.
“The imposition of sanctions against a criminal defendant’s counsel this close to pre-trial and trial proceedings based on a single word would chill the vigorous defense of Mr. Biden and have the improper effect of dissuading defense counsel from raising appropriate issues,” they added.
Newsweek has contacted Lowell and Geragos for comment.
In June, Hunter was found guilty on three felony gun charges stemming from knowingly buying a firearm while on drugs. His lawyers filed a motion for a new trial for that case, but earlier this month, they withdrew their request.
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