A Delaware judge has rejected Hunter Biden’s efforts to have three federal gun charges against him dismissed, which means that a trial is likely to proceed in the coming months.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys launched several challenges in December to an indictment issued by special counsel David Weiss. They questioned Weiss’ jurisdiction to file charges and alleged that the indictment was a product of biased and retaliatory prosecution.
Defense attorneys also claimed that the immunity provision linked to Hunter Biden’s unsuccessful plea agreement was still valid.
According to prosecutors, Hunter Biden allegedly provided false information about his drug use on a federal form while acquiring a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver in 2018. This revelation came after he openly discussed his struggle with drug addiction in his memoir, “Beautiful Things.” It is worth noting that Hunter only possessed the firearm for a brief period of eleven days and never actually used it, as confirmed by his legal team.
In January, Weiss’ office responded to Hunter Biden’s attempts to dismiss the case, criticizing his arguments as “absurd,” “stunningly weak and unsupported by facts and law,” and likening them to “a fiction crafted for a Hollywood script.”
On Friday, Judge Maryellen Noreika ruled in favor of prosecutors, ensuring that the case will proceed to trial. The trial is tentatively scheduled to commence in early June.
The defense team of Hunter Biden had pinned their hopes on getting the case dismissed by arguing that the immunity provision in their plea deal, which ended up collapsing, was valid because both parties had signed it. However, Weiss’ office countered this claim by stating that the contract needed to be approved by a probation officer, who never signed it.
In his statement on Friday, Noreika emphasized that the agreement must be approved by probation, as stated clearly in the relevant language.
Hunter Biden claimed that Weiss succumbed to political pressure from Republicans and former President Donald Trump. However, Noreika delivered a scathing rebuke, dismissing this argument.
According to Noreika, Hunter Biden has vaguely claimed that individuals from the previous administration were targeting him or his father, suggesting that the prosecution against him is driven by vindictiveness. However, Noreika points out that the decision to charge Hunter Biden was made during the current administration by Special Counsel Weiss. It is worth noting that the head of the Executive Branch prosecuting Hunter Biden is none other than his own father.
In her ruling, Judge Noreika dismissed the defendant’s claim that his father specifically targeted him because he was his son. She deemed this claim to be nonsensical given the circumstances of the case.
Another blow for Hunter Biden as his legal troubles continue to mount. In addition to the ongoing tax charges case, a federal judge in California recently rejected similar challenges to a nine-count indictment. This latest ruling adds to the mounting pressure on Hunter Biden, as the Delaware gun case is set to go to trial in a matter of weeks.
