Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, walks upon arriving at Fort Leslie J. McNair in Washington, DC, on July 1, 2024.
Mandel Gunn | AFP | Getty Images
Hunter Biden’s lawyers on Thursday asked federal judges in California and Delaware to dismiss the criminal cases against him in courts in those states, citing recent opinions by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the dismissal this week of a criminal classified documents lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.
In motions filed with both courts, Biden’s lawyers pointed to the two opinions questioning the legality of the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith to prosecute President Trump, and argued that the appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special prosecutor to prosecute President Joe Biden’s son was unconstitutional.
The motion follows a ruling by Florida federal judge Eileen Cannon on Monday tossing out Smith’s indictment against Trump for allegedly keeping classified documents after he left the White House. Cannon ruled that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Hunter Biden, 54, was convicted in Delaware federal court in June of three felony counts related to purchasing a handgun in Delaware while he was a crack cocaine user and addict in the state in 2018. The motion filed Thursday in the court seeks to vacate the conviction and dismiss the case.
Biden is awaiting trial on federal tax crimes charges in Los Angeles federal court, but his lawyers are also asking a judge there to throw that case out as well.
Both of Biden’s motions note that his lawyers previously argued unsuccessfully that Weiss was improperly appointed special counsel in violation of Justice Department rules and that she received financial assistance that does not apply to special counsels.
“However, Biden’s current motion is different and is based on recent legal developments,” his lawyers wrote.
The motion noted that the Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump has presumed immunity from criminal prosecution for so-called official acts as president. The ruling was in connection with Smith’s ongoing prosecution of Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., for crimes related to attempts to overturn Trump’s loss to President Biden in the 2020 election.
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