Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, filed several motions moving to dismiss the gun charges that have been brought against him in the state of Delaware, claiming without evidence that Special Counsel David Weiss “buckled under political pressure” when charging him.
As The Hill reports, the younger Biden is seeking to dismiss the whole case as a “vindictive prosecution,” in addition to other challenges to the case, such as claiming that Weiss’ promotion to Special Counsel was an illegal move. He is also claiming that his right to purchase a firearm is protected under the Second Amendment despite his prior drug use.
“The announcement that this case would be resolved through a Diversion Agreement and a Plea Agreement drew a sharp rebuke from former President Trump (who appointed Mr. Weiss), extremist House Republicans, and the far-right media. They made it clear that they wanted Mr. Weiss to keep this litigation alive through the presidential election,” said Biden’s legal team in a 69-page filing.
“Because the facts in the case did not change and the law only became more difficult for such prosecutions, the public record supports no conclusion other than Mr. Weiss changed his decision because he buckled under political pressure to bring more severe charges,” the filing continued.
Hunter’s team had originally agreed to a plea deal that would have seen him plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence, but upon the deal’s collapse at the last moment, Hunter switched his plea to “not guilty.” His legal team claims that federal prosecutors went back on their part of the deal, which would have allowed Hunter to forgo the gun charges and would grant him immunity from any such offenses related to firearms.
“As the prosecution told the Court, ‘based on the terms of the agreement. . . . we cannot bring firearms charges based on the firearm identified in the factual statement to the Diversion Agreement,’” his counsel wrote. “Nevertheless, the prosecution did just that, by subsequently bringing this Indictment charging Mr. Biden with three felony firearm offenses, which all relate to the firearm identified in the Diversion Agreement’s factual statement. Because Mr. Biden gave up valuable rights as part of this contract, in exchange for the prosecution’s promise not to prosecute him, ‘such promise must be fulfilled.’”
Biden was first indicted on three different gun-related charges in September, with two counts of failing to disclose drug use when trying to purchase a weapon, and another count of unlawful possession of a firearm while addicted to drugs. Earlier this month, Special Counsel Weiss indicted Hunter again on an additional nine charges related primarily to taxes, accusing Hunter of evading his taxes to the tune of $1.4 million.