A federal judge on Monday rejected the latest attempt by President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden to dismiss several tax-related charges he faces in Los Angeles, all but ensuring the case will go to trial as scheduled early next month.
In July, Hunter Biden’s attorneys filed a pair of motions to dismiss his cases in both California and Delaware, citing a decision by a federal judge in Florida to dismiss the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
But on Monday, U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, the Los Angeles-based federal judge overseeing the tax case, denied that bid, concluding in a seven-page decision that his lawyers’ arguments failed on both procedural and substantive grounds.
Scarsi, in denying the motion, cited Hunter Biden’s earlier ill-fated attempt to dismiss the case.
“As he concedes in his notice of motion, Mr. Biden clearly seeks reconsideration of issues already decided in his February motion,” Scarsi wrote, concluding that “there is no valid basis for reconsideration of the court’s motion. [prior] to deny Mr. Biden’s motion to dismiss the indictment.”
However, the judge ruled that Hunter Biden will not face sanctions after Scarsi previously threatened to sanction him after Hunter Biden’s lawyers suggested in court filings that special counsel David Weiss brought the charges only after he was elevated to special counsel. Biden’s legal team admitted in a subsequent filing that their claim had been “improperly” worded.
Hunter Biden leaves the federal courthouse on June 11, 2024 in Wilmington, Del.
Matt Slocum/AP
On Monday, Scarsi wrote that he would not sanction Hunter Biden, in part because of a recent shakeup of his legal team, but issued a warning, saying, “The actor’s conduct warrants an admonition: candor is paramount.”
Hunter Biden faces nine felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes over three years during a time when he was in the throes of addiction. The remaining taxes and penalties were ultimately paid in full by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden’s attorney and confidante, Kevin Morris.
The trial is scheduled to begin on September 5. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The president’s son was found guilty on three firearms-related charges in a separate case in Delaware earlier this summer.