WASHINGTON — A federal judge dismissed Hunter Biden’s lawsuit Monday last attempt at dismissal the tax charges against him, setting the stage for his trial set to begin next month in California.
Citing a Florida ruling that has dismissed a separate prosecution Lawyers for Hunter Biden, former President Donald Trump, had asked the judge to dismiss the case, accusing him of running a four-year scheme to evade at least $1.4 million in taxes.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon Trump’s case over secret documents dismissed last month because she said special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges, was improperly appointed by the Justice Department. The Justice Department is appealing that ruling.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers argued that the same logic should apply to his case, which was brought by a different Justice Department special counsel.
But U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi noted in his ruling that he had already rejected an earlier challenge by Hunter Biden to the appointment of special counsel David Weiss. The judge said there is “no valid basis for reconsideration” of that decision.
Scarsi, who was appointed as a judge by Trump, had accused Hunter Biden’s lawyers of making “false statements” in their court filing urging the judge to dismiss the case. It was over a defense comment that no charges had been filed in the investigation until Weiss was appointed special counsel in August 2023.
The judge noted that Weiss had not yet been appointed special counsel when he charged Hunter Biden with tax crimes as part of a settlement proposal which fell apart last year. Scarsi ordered Hunter Biden’s lawyers to explain why they should not be sanctioned.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers responded that they “never attempted to mislead the court.”
In his order Monday, the judge said he would not discipline the defense attorneys after they changed their filing. But the judge wrote that the defense’s “conduct warrants a warning: Candor is paramount.”
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday, when the judge is expected to hear arguments about what evidence the prosecution and defense can present to the jury.
It is the second criminal trial in just a few months against the president’s son, who was convicted in June of three felonies in a separate federal case stemming from a gun purchase in 2018.
