Judge shuts down Hunter Biden’s attempt to use dismissal of Trump’s documents case to get his own tax case dismissed
By Marshall Cohen, CNN
(CNN) — A federal judge Monday shut down Hunter Biden’s attempt to use the controversial ruling that ended Donald Trump’s classified documents case to get his own tax evasion charges dismissed.
The decision from District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles was based entirely on technical and procedural grounds, concluding that Hunter Biden’s motion was filed too late and was a thinly veiled attempt to re-litigate a question that he previously ruled on and rejected.
Regardless of the reasoning, the decision means Hunter Biden won’t get the same relief Trump got. Special counsel David Weiss can move forward with his case against President Joe Biden’s son, who has pleaded not guilty to nine tax crimes.
The judge did not address the merits of Hunter Biden’s challenge. Hunter Biden argued – like Trump did – that the Justice Department special counsel who brought the charges was unconstitutionally appointed and unlawfully funded.
There are key differences between Weiss and the special counsel prosecuting Trump, Jack Smith. Weiss was previously the Senate-confirmed US attorney in Delaware when he began the Hunter Biden probe, while Smith was named as special counsel by the attorney general and hasn’t served in any Senate-confirmed capacity.
Trump’s similar argument was embraced by the judge who oversaw his classified documents case, Aileen Cannon. Both Cannon and Scarsi were appointed by Trump.
“The Court already adjudicated Mr. Biden’s Appointments and Appropriations Clause challenges in his timely filed motion to dismiss … there is no reason to revisit the Court’s decision now,” Scarsi wrote.
He pointed out that “there is no valid basis for reconsideration” and that “Neither Justice Thomas’s opinion nor Judge Cannon’s order is binding precedent.” (Before Cannon ruled in Trump’s favor, conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a solo concurring opinion in a related case that he believed the special counsels weren’t appointed lawfully.)
This decision Monday is the latest in a series of blows for Hunter Biden, who was convicted in June of three felony gun charges in a separate case, and will be sentenced after the November election.
Hoping to stave off the tax trial, which is slated to begin early next month, Hunter Biden seized on Cannon’s ruling in July. But Scarsi rebuked his lawyers for including blatantly “false” assertions in their motion, and threatened to sanction them for “misrepresenting the history” of the case.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys told the judge their filing was “inartfully” written without any intent to deceive the court.
In a seven-page order, Scarsi said Monday that he wouldn’t punish the lawyers, but offered a stern warning that “counsel’s conduct warrants an admonition: candor is paramount.”
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday where Scarsi will hear arguments on attempts by Hunter Biden and Weiss to exclude certain evidence and witnesses from the trial.
The-CNN-Wire
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