Special counsel rebuts Hunter Biden's attempt to dismiss his felony gun charges
Special counsel David Weiss' office on Tuesday issued a biting rebuttal to Hunter Biden's attempt to have three felony gun charges against him thrown out, calling Biden's selective prosecution claim "a fiction designed for a Hollywood script."
Attorneys representing Hunter Biden are seeking to have the charges dismissed in part by accusing Weiss, who was appointed U.S. Attorney by former President Donald Trump, of "[buckling] under political pressure" from congressional Republicans loyal to Trump.
"This claim borders on the absurd," Weiss' office wrote in a 57-page response on Tuesday. Prosecutors said that the argument is "implausible" because Weiss was empowered to bring the charges by an attorney general who was appointed by President Joe Biden, the defendant's father.
Hunter Biden's "motion [to dismiss] is stunningly weak and wholly unsupported by facts and law," Weiss' office wrote.
Weiss' office filed the gun-related charges in September, on the heels of his appointment as special counsel and nearly five years after investigators began probing Hunter Biden.
The conduct described in charging documents dates to October of 2018, when Hunter Biden procured a gun despite later acknowledging in his memoir, "Beautiful Things," that he was addicted to drugs around that time. According to prosecutors, Biden obtained a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver and lied on a federal form about his drug use. Biden owned the firearm for eleven days and never fired it, his attorneys have said.
Prosecutors on Tuesday reiterated several core tenets of their indictment, which they said amounted to "overwhelming" evidence against Biden. They added that the FBI found trace amounts of cocaine on a brown leather pouch that held the firearm after it was recovered by police.
In his filing seeking to have the charges against Hunter Biden dismissed, his attorney Abbe Lowell offered a series of arguments, claiming that the special counsel was "unlawfully appointed" and therefore lacks the authority to bring charges; that the immunity stipulation in a section of the parties' ill-fated plea deal remains in effect; and that the gun crimes in question may not be constitutional.
Hunter Biden's legal team will have an opportunity to reply to the government's brief by the end of the month.
The gun charges in Delaware reflect only a fraction of Hunter Biden's growing legal liabilities. Last week, he pleaded not guilty to nine additional tax-related charges brought by Weiss' office in California. Congressional Republicans have also threatened to issue a criminal referral to the Justice Department for his failure to comply with a subpoena for closed-door testimony.
