Hunter Biden sought to have his tax charges dismissed, but a federal court in Los Angeles denied his motion on Monday.
The accusations stemmed from a four-year plot to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while leading an opulent lifestyle.
Hunter Biden's Attorney Presents Defense in Tax Case
US District Judge Marc Scarsi dismissed multiple claims, including accusations of federal prosecutors giving in to pressure from Republicans and the assertion that the younger Biden had immunity from a previous plea deal he had negotiated.
Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, submitted his argument before the judge for three hours before the action was taken. Judge Scarsi agreed to make a decision by April 17.
The first son filed a not guilty plea to charges of withholding $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019 while reportedly spending millions of dollars on luxury goods including exotic automobiles, prostitutes, and narcotics.
The trial is scheduled to begin in June, only a few months before Americans cast their ballots in November's much-anticipated secure and divisive presidential race between Donald Trump, who is facing four criminal prosecutions, and Joe Biden, who is the target of an impeachment investigation.
Hunter Biden, the first offspring of a sitting president to be charged with a crime, is currently prosecuted in a different criminal case in a Delaware federal court for allegedly purchasing a weapon while under the influence of narcotics. He previously entered a not guilty plea and made similar claims to have the charges dropped.
In addition to not providing evidence to support his assertions that the FBI agents influenced the prosecutor's choice other than conjecture, the defendant "offers no case in which a court exercised supervisory powers to dismiss an indictment due to conduct that impacts the fundamental decision to prosecute," the judge wrote, deciding that the theory was erroneous and that even in the unlikely scenario that it was, he would not be able to throw out the case, according to Reuters.
Hunter Biden's Charge Dismissal Attempt Fails
Hunter Biden's attempts to have some of the lower allegations in the nine-count indictment dropped were similarly rejected by Scarsi. The judge determined that one of the misdemeanor reports related to Hunter Biden's 2016 taxes was still subject to the statute of limitations.
In addition, he concluded that there was not enough proof to dismiss four counts due to possible jurisdictional issues because Hunter Biden was a resident of California.
Scarsi's results provide support for Weiss, a Republican appointed by Trump to the US attorney's office in Delaware.
The integrity and impartiality of Weiss's prosecutors' work have been upheld, and they said in court last week that it was "insulting" to imply that they got their influence from Republicans or Trump.
Hunter Biden's defense lawyers made several court filings following the tax lawsuit's initial filing. They stated that Weiss was illegally appointed, called the action partisan, and urged the judge to dismiss the case because it clashed with a plea agreement that fell through during the summer.
Hunter's allegations were mocked by Weiss, who called them "conspiracy theories" with no legal foundation.
The president's son would not face tax charges under a diversion agreement that Hunter Biden and the prosecutors struck over the summer, but Scarsi's ruling on Monday revealed that the agreement, along with its immunity provisions, never took effect because the space designated for a probation officer's signature is blank.
According to Scarsi, the arrangement reached by Weiss and Hunter Biden required the document to be signed by a probation officer in order for it to be enforceable.
Scarsi said that Weiss and Hunter Biden "made their performance of their obligations contingent upon the event of her signing," but that "nothing in the text of the Diversion Agreement tethers the very existence of the agreement, or any party's acceptance of the agreement, to the Probation Officer's approval."
Hunter Biden was indicted by Delaware special counsel prosecutors for three suspected gun crimes, but he denied any culpability. June 3rd is when the trial is scheduled to start, right before California tax charges, CNN News reported.
