Hunter Biden’s lawyers launched a wide-ranging legal assault Tuesday on the federal tax charges he faces, accusing prosecutors of caving to political pressure, IRS investigators of illegally leaking his records and the Justice Department of improperly empowering a special counsel to pursue the case against him. The president’s son filed nine motions seeking to gut or dismiss the case outright, describing a campaign of “outrageous” and “vindictive” government forces arrayed against him, reports Politico. Biden is facing federal charges in California for allegedly failing to file tax returns, understating his income and inflating his business expenses over three years. The charges followed a failed attempt to finalize a plea deal in Delaware on a federal charge of being a drug user in possession of a firearm.
Biden’s attorneys filed the motions to dismiss some or all of the charges brought by special counsel David Weiss in Los Angeles federal court. Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss — who was appointed as U.S. Attorney by President Trump — to special counsel status last year. The motions argue that the case against Hunter Biden is defective for a variety of reasons, including that he is being targeted for “selective and vindictive prosecution” driven by politically-motivated pressure applied by “extremist Republicans.” “Politics have tainted this prosecution, and there is no constitutional option but to dismiss this case,” wrote Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell. Lowell pointed to what he said were several instances in which Weiss allegedly caved to GOP pressure, including when prosecutors “vaulted from two tax misdemeanors to nine misdemeanors and felonies.” Weiss has said that, "The charges in this case are not trumped up or because of former President Trump —they are instead a result of the defendant’s own choices and were brought in spite of, not because of, any outside noise made by politicians.” Weiss wrote. Biden and his lawyers take aim at Weiss himself and contend he was illegally appointed as special counsel because DOJ policies require special counsels to come from “outside of government.” Trump and his allies have made similar claims about the legitimacy of special counsels that have probed their conducts.
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