Judge rejects Hunter Biden’s request to dismiss tax trial

Hunter Biden
Greg Nash
File – Hunter Biden is seen during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 3, 2024 posthumously for U.S. Army Pvts. Philip Gephart Shadrach and George Davenport Wilson. Davenport and Shadrach are the last two soldiers to be awarded the medal for their part of The Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862 where Union soldiers stole a passenger train in Confederate territory for 87 miles in Georgia destroying train tracks and telegraph wires.

A federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s trial on tax charges rejected his bid to toss the case after the president’s son sought to argue the special counsel prosecuting the case was improperly appointed.

Biden had made the argument after the judge overseeing former President Trump’s documents case ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed — a decision the Justice Department is now appealing.

California-based Judge Mark Scarsi rejected similar logic in Biden’s case, allowing the trial to move forward in September.

Scarsi wrote that he had already weighed the legality of special counsel David Weiss’s role, finding he was properly appointed. He said Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling did not provide a basis for reconsidering that decision.

It’s not the first time Biden has mirrored arguments from Trump in fighting his own case.

He previously filed a motion seeking to toss the case by arguing the case was politically motivated.

It’s the second criminal trial in just months against the president’s son, who was convicted in June of three felony charges in a separate federal case brought in Delaware stemming from his purchase of a gun in 2018.

In the California-based case, Biden is accused of failure to pay more than $1.4 million in taxes.

The Associated Press contributed.

Tags David Weiss Donald Trump Hunter Biden Jack Smith Joe Biden

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