Hunter Biden’s trial for tax evasion in California was postponed after the judge accepted a request for a delay in September. It was supposed to happen next month.
US District Judge Mark C. Scarsi decided to move the case to September 5 because the defense lawyers asked for more time to get ready. Hunter Biden is also going to trial for federal gun charges on June 3 in Delaware.
He said he did not do the crimes he’s accused of, and his lawyers say the accusations are for political reasons. Both cases are being looked at by judges chosen by former President Donald Trump, who is a member of the Republican party and is trying to win against the Democratic president in November.
The trials will make the presidential election even more bitter. Trump’s friends are using embarrassing details from Biden’s son’s troubled life to criticize his father. Trump also has his own legal problems. Trump is facing charges in four criminal cases. One of the cases is about hush money and it is being tried in New York.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers are trying to find experts to testify in the important trial but have been having trouble doing so. They have also asked for the cases to be dismissed or delayed.
The prosecutors disagreed with the request to delay the case, saying it is a simple tax case. Prosecutor Leo Wise told the judge that it is time to have the trial for this case.
“He must follow the law and be treated like anyone else in court,” said David Weiss’ team from the Justice Department in a recent document.
Hunter Biden did not have to go to the court hearing in Los Angeles, and he didn’t go. The judge warned his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, that this would be the only time the case would be delayed, unless a higher court ordered otherwise.
Prosecutors have about 30 people who will tell the court that he didn’t pay about US$1.4 million in taxes over four years while living a very rich life. He has admitted that he had problems with addiction during this time. The taxes that were owed have now been paid.
In the gun case, lawyers say that Biden didn’t tell the truth about using drugs in October 2018 when he filled out a form to buy a gun. He had the gun for about 11 days in Delaware. During that time, he admitted to being addicted to crack cocaine, but his lawyers say he didn’t do anything illegal.
The lawyers want to show the jury parts of his book “Beautiful Things” from 2021. In the book, he talks about his fight with drinking and drugs after his brother died in 2015. His brother was 46 and died from brain cancer.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers tried to get both cases thrown out, but they were not successful. They say that prosecutors gave in to political pressure to charge him. This happened after a plea deal fell apart in court and was criticized by Republicans, including Trump, as being too lenient.
The investigation into the president’s son was supposed to end with a deal last year, but it fell apart because a judge had concerns about it. Hunter Biden was later charged with a crime.
He would have been on probation for two years after admitting to breaking tax laws. He could have stayed out of trouble and not gotten in trouble for having a gun.
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