Judge Declines to Toss Hunter Biden Tax Case

UPDATE Aug 20, 2024 12:30 AM CDT

A federal judge on Monday denied Hunter Biden's attempt to have his tax case tossed, meaning his trial is still planned for next month in California. Biden had argued that since a separate prosecution of Donald Trump was dismissed based on the unconstitutional appointment of the special counsel in that case, the same reasoning should be used to throw out the case against Biden—but the judge said since he'd already rejected a previous challenge to the appointment of a special counsel in Biden's case, there was "no valid basis for reconsideration" of that decision, the AP reports.

Jul 19, 2024 7:11 AM CDT

Hunter Biden is calling for the dismissal of cases against him, citing the same justification that a judge used to toss former President Trump's federal classified documents case. Biden's attorneys claim the unconstitutional appointment of the investigation's special counsel in new court filings. Guided by Justice Clarence Thomas' opinion on presidential immunity, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump on Monday, stating Special Counsel Jack Smith was "unconstitutionally appointed," Biden's legal team writes in new court filings, per Axios. The Trump appointee ruled a special counsel had to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Like Trump, Biden was prosecuted by a special counsel appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Special Counsel David Weiss filed a firearm case against Biden in Delaware and federal tax charges against him in California. Biden was last month found guilty of three federal charges in the firearm case. He has pleaded not guilty to the other charges ahead of a September trial. Though his lawyers previously contested Weiss' appointment, they say Cannon's ruling has strengthened their case. "Based on these new legal developments, Mr. Biden moves to dismiss the indictment brought against him because the Special Counsel who initiated this prosecution was appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause as well," Thursday's motion reads.

story continues below

"The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason," lawyers write, per the Guardian. President Biden recently said he disagreed with Thomas' opinion that a special counsel's office must be established by Congress and that "if there is no law establishing the office that the special counsel occupies, then he cannot proceed with this prosecution." The opinion was delivered as part of the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity but was not part of the controlling majority opinion. Still, it was cited three times in Cannon's ruling, which Smith's team is appealing, per NBC News. (More Hunter Biden stories.)