Hunter Biden’s attorneys filed nine motions on Tuesday asking a judge to dismiss tax-related charges filed by special counsel David Weiss in a California federal court last year.
“The special counsel has gone to extreme lengths to bring charges against Mr. Biden that would not have been filed against anyone else,” said Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell in a statement. “Prosecutors reneged on binding agreements, bowed to political pressure to bring unprecedented charges, overreached in their authority, ignored the rules and allowed their agents to run amok, and repeatedly misstated evidence to the court to defend their conduct.”
In the court filings, Hunter Biden’s attorneys argued that the president’s son was being selectively targeted for prosecution. They also argued that the statute of limitations had expired and that there were duplicative charges for the same tax year.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys argue that for one of the tax charges stemming from 2019, the president’s son already paid his taxes with interest and penalties.
“When a taxpayer has paid all they owe under those circumstances, as Mr. Biden has, criminal tax charges simply are not brought,” one of the filings said. “The fact that they were brought here highlights that Mr. Biden is being subject to a selective and vindictive prosecution.”
President Joe Biden’s son pleaded not guilty to nine tax-related charges during his arraignment in January. He had previously been indicted in the Central District of California on allegations that he failed to pay taxes.
The December indictment alleged that Hunter Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle” instead of paying taxes.
The president’s son in December asked a federal judge in Delaware to dismiss gun-related charges against him, pointing to a previous agreement with prosecutors that his attorneys said gave him immunity.
Several of the motions in Tuesday’s filing largely mirrored arguments made in the gun case but were more directed to the specific charges he faces in federal court in California.
NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment.
