Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, leaves federal court after a plea hearing on two misdemeanor charges of willful failure to pay income taxes in Wilmington, Delaware, July 26, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Federal prosecutors plan to ask a grand jury to indict Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, on gun charges by Sept. 29, they revealed in a court Wednesday filing.
The plan was revealed in a status report filed by special counsel David Weiss in US District Court in Delaware, six weeks after a planned plea deal that would have seen Hunter plead guilty to tax crimes – while avoids conviction in gun case – collapsed after a judge questioned its terms.
An attorney for Hunter later said Wednesday that the earlier deferred prosecution agreement was still in effect for the gun charge, meaning Hunter could not be charged with that crime if he stayed out of trouble in for two years, at which point that case will be closed.
Attorney Abbe Lowell also said the deal prevents Weiss from filing any charges against Hunter.
The gun charge Weiss has indicated he will seek from a grand jury would prohibit people who use illegal drugs from owning guns.
The constitutionality of that charge, at least in some cases, was questioned last month by a panel of judges in 5th US Circuit Court of Appealswhich overturned the conviction of a Mississippi man sentenced to prison for possessing firearms while using marijuana.
The appeals panel threw out the ruling because the law applied to the defendant in that case, Patrick Daniels Jr., conflicted with a 2022 Supreme Court decision that struck down a New York state law that -regulate gun ownership because it violates the nation’s “historical traditions.” of arms regulation.”
Hunter still faces charges of two counts of failing to pay federal income taxes on income of more than $1.5 million annually in 2017 and 2018. He entered a not-guilty plea to those counts at a hearing in July 26 in Delaware where the plea deal fell apart.
Since then, Weiss’ office and defense attorneys have argued in court filings over whether their earlier agreement to let Hunter escape prosecution on the felony weapons charge was valid.
Weiss’ filing Wednesday noted that federal law says that if prosecutors want to criminally charge a defendant they must do so within 30 days of that person being arrested or summoned to court, which prohibits the clock to be suspended for various legal reasons.
“The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest,” Weiss’ office wrote.
“The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date. Thus, the Government does not believe that any action by the Court is necessary at this time.”
Hunter’s attorney, Lowell, in a statement said, “We believe the signed and filed transfer agreement [on the gun charge] remains valid and precludes any further charges from being filed against Mr. Biden, who has been complying with the conditions of release under that agreement for the past several weeks, including regular visits by the probation office.”
“We expect a fair resolution of the extensive, 5-year investigation into Mr. Biden that is based on evidence and the law, not out of political pressure, and we will do what is necessary on Mr. Biden’s behalf to achieve that.” Lowell said in the statement, obtained by NBC News.
Hunter Biden, who has had business dealings in China and Ukraine, has for years been at the center of Republican allegations of corruption involving him and his father.
Biden has not yet been charged in connection with those allegations.
But Hunter Biden has been under criminal investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware, headed by Weiss, since 2018.
Weiss was appointed to that job by former President Donald Trump, who lost his re-election bid to Joe Biden in 2020. Trump is now seeking a 2024 rematch against Biden as the Republican nominee.
Weiss angered congressional Republicans in June by offering Hunter a plea deal on relatively minor charges, which would virtually guarantee he would not serve any time in prison.
As part of that deal, Hunter agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to pay income taxes.
He also agreed to a so-called pretrial diversion agreement, which would allow him to escape a felony charge of possessing a firearm while a drug addict if he abides by the terms of that agreement.
On July 26, Hunter and prosecutors appeared in Delaware federal court before Judge Maryellen Noreika, with both sides hoping to formalize that deal.
Instead, the deal collapsed after Noreika questioned prosecutors about its terms, particularly the condition that called for a judge — and not the Justice Department — to decide whether Hunter was in compliance with the charge-transfer agreement. gun for two years.
That condition is widely seen as insurance against Trump forcing the DOJ to find Hunter in breach of the agreement if Trump returns to the White House.
Noreika, himself a Trump appointee, gave Hunter’s lawyers and prosecutors time to rework the deal to address his concerns. But those discussions failed.
Weiss last month asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint him a special counsel in the case, which Garland granted.
Soon after, Weiss said Hunter Biden would likely face trial in either California or Washington, DC, for tax crimes.
Hunter’s lawyers last month told Noreika that Weiss had reneged on an earlier plea deal on tax crimes. Defense attorneys also argued that the gun diversion agreement was “valid and valid.”
Weiss’ office said the gun deal is off the table, and it’s invalid because the US Probation Office didn’t sign it.
But in their separate court filing Wednesday, Hunter’s lawyers said they still believed the deal was in place, and said he was abiding by its terms.
