Judge threatens to sanction Hunter Biden’s legal team

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in California is threatening to sanction Hunter Biden’s lawyers, saying they made “false statements” in a court filing asking the judge to throw out the tax case against President Joe Biden’s son.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi accused lawyers for the Democratic president’s son of “misrepresenting the history” of the case when they said in court papers filed last week that no charges were brought in the investigation until after Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss was named special counsel in August 2023.

“These statements, however, are not true, and Mr. Biden’s counsel knows they are not true,” wrote Scarsi, who was appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump, a Republican.

The judge noted that Weiss had not yet been named special counsel when he charged Hunter Biden with misdemeanor tax offenses as part of a plea deal that fell apart last year. Scarsi ordered Hunter Biden’s lawyers to explain why they should not be sanctioned.

Attorney Mark Geragos told The Associated Press on Thursday that Hunter Biden’s legal team would respond to the judge, but he insisted it made no false statements. Geragos noted that Weiss, as Delaware U.S. attorney, had no authority to file the tax charges in California until after he was named special counsel.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers made the statement in a court filing seeking to dismiss the case, which accuses the president’s son of a scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes and is scheduled for trial in September. Hunter Biden’s lawyers cited a ruling from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissing a separate prosecution of Trump in Florida because she said special counsel Jack Smith, who filed Trump’s charges, was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers said the same logic should apply in his cases and should result in the dismissal of his tax case in Los Angeles and a separate firearm case in Delaware, in which he was convicted of three felony charges.

Smith’s team has appealed Cannon’s dismissal to a federal appeals court in Atlanta, saying the Justice Department followed long-established precedent — for instance, the Trump-era appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election interference was upheld by courts.

Jurors in Delaware in June found Hunter Biden guilty of lying about his drug use in 2018 on a federal form to buy a firearm that he had for about 11 days. The tax case in California, where he lives, centers on at least $1.4 million in taxes prosecutors say he failed to pay over four years. The back taxes have since been paid.