Attorneys for Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, have filed a motion to have the grand jury indictment against him dismissed, while the special counsel assigned to the case argues that the dismissal should be denied.
This comes after President Biden pardoned his son Hunter late Sunday evening, sparing him from sentencing in a pair of separate court cases in which he was found guilty of illegally purchasing a gun and failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes. The president has claimed that the convictions were politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice”.
However, the special counsel, David Weiss, argues that the pardon does not mean the grand jury’s decision to charge Hunter with the crimes should be wiped away. Weiss says that the government does not challenge Hunter’s claims that the charges were the result of an improper motive, but notes that no court has agreed with these claims.
Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, argues that the majority of courts support dismissing the indictment, citing the special counsel’s own admission that the majority of courts have chosen to dismiss an indictment in similar cases.
The drug case against Hunter, which led to his guilty plea, involved allegations that he made a false statement in the purchase of a gun, made a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. Hunter has a history of drug abuse, which he has documented in his 2021 memoir.
In the tax case, Hunter faced trial on three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes, but entered a guilty plea just before jury selection was to begin.