Special Counsel urges judge to reject Hunter Biden's request to delay tax trial
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to deny Hunter Biden's request to delay his upcoming California tax trial in what is expected to be a busy summer for the president's son, who also faces a separate criminal trial in Delaware.
In his motion, Special Counsel David Weiss said Biden's attorney, who is representing him in the California and Delaware cases, previously agreed to the trial dates last year.
"No defendant would be afforded a continuance because he wrongly chose to lodge a jurisdictionless appeal, and this defendant should be treated no differently," the motion states." Defense counsel offers a handful of other reasons why he wants a trial delay of 77 days, but none of them warrant a continuance. The motion should be denied."
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Weiss said Biden's attorney agreed in April 2023 to commence with the trial in Delaware, in which Biden is accused of federal gun charges, despite the tax trial being scheduled to begin on June 20. The Delaware proceeding is expected to begin June 3.
"In his latest effort to delay trial (an application for a continuance), defendant’s lead counsel’s primary reason is the weeklong June 3, 2024, trial in Delaware at which he is one of the lawyers representing the defendant with respect to firearms charges," the court document reads. "But on March 13, 2024, and again on April 11, 2024, lead counsel told the Delaware court he was able to try the gun case in Delaware on June 3, 2024, with full knowledge that this trial would begin on June 20, 2024."
On Tuesday, a federal judge rejected a request to delay the gun case until September. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika said she believes "everyone can get done what needs to get done" by the trial’s start date of June 3.
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Later that day, a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court said the tax case against Biden can also move forward.
In Delaware, Biden is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 while filling out a form to buy a gun that he kept for 11 days. He has pleaded not guilty.
In California, he’s charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors over at least $1.4 million in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019.
A plea agreement reached between Biden and prosecutors was rejected by a judge who was supposed to sign off on it, forcing the case to go to trial.