Abbe Lowell, attorney for Hunter Biden, appeared in a Los Angeles federal courtroom Wednesday afternoon to argue that all of the criminal charges filed against his client in California should be dismissed. Hunter Biden did not attend.
A total of eight motions to dismiss were filed by the defense to be considered by US District Judge Mark Scarsi. They argue that the nine-count indictment should be dismissed because:
- July 2023 Diversion Agreement is in effect, therefore giving Hunter Biden immunity
- Special Counsel David Weiss was unlawfully appointed, and the prosecution violates the Appropriations Clause
- Selective and Vindictive Prosecution and Breach of Separation of Powers
- Due Process violations based on outrageous government conduct
- Improper venue
- Failure to state a claim and lack of specificity
Judge Mark Scarsi, the judge in the case, told both sides he’d make a ruling on the several petitions to dismiss by April 17.
It's interesting that the defense argued that Weiss was unlawfully appointed, since that argues that Hunter's father's appointee, Merrick Garland, acted unlawfully. Lots of Republicans make that argument about any number of the Garland DOJ's actions, but it's rare for a Democrat to argue that. Lowell argued that the Special Counsel must be someone outside of the government.
Ever since the demise of Hunter's plea agreement in Delaware last summer, legal analysts predicted that he would argue that the diversion agreement portion of the plea arrangement was already in effect even though the plea agreement fell through, because there was verbiage in each document stating that they stood on their own, even if the other wasn't effected. Weiss' office argues that the diversion agreement had to be approved by the probation department and that that never happened, so the diversion agreement is invalid.
The defense's motions on selective and vindictive prosecution and violation of separation of powers are particularly outside the realm of what's normally argued in court. Lowell narrates a story that one would not be faulted for believing was concocted by Hunter during one of his drug benders — and Weiss absolutely destroyed the argument.
[T]he defendant concocts a conspiracy theory that the prosecution has “upped the ante” to appease politicians who have absolutely nothing to do with the prosecution and are not even members of the current Executive Branch.
[T]o state an obvious fact that the defendant continues to ignore, former President Trump is not the President of the United States.
The defendant fails to explain how President Biden or the Attorney General, to whom the Special Counsel reports, or the Special Counsel himself, or his team of prosecutors, are acting at the direction of former President Trump or Congressional Republicans, or how this current Executive Branch approved allegedly discriminatory charges against the President’s son at the direction of former President Trump and Congressional Republicans."
In light of how completely impotent Republicans have been during Joe Biden's presidency and the continued systemic lawfare Donald Trump has been subjected to, the defense claims that Trump and Congressional Republicans wield such influence and power over the Department of Justice is so out of touch with reality that it could be a basis for involuntary commitment.
Hunter Biden's attorneys previewed their arguments during the arraignment held in January, which I analyzed here.
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