by WorldTribune Staff, April 2, 2024
Abbe Lowell, Hunter BIden's lawyer, took a big o-fer on Monday as a judge rejected all of Lowell's motions to dismiss Hunter's tax indictment.
Judge Mark Scarsi , in an 82-page ruling posted to the case docket late Monday, denied all eight of Lowell's motions.
“We strongly disagree with the Court's decision and will continue to vigorously pursue Mr. Biden's challenges to the abnormal way the Special Counsel handled this investigation and charged this case,” Lowell said in a statement following the ruling.
Lowell argued on behalf of Hunter Biden that the immunity stipulation in a section of the parties' ill-fated plea deal from last summer remains in effect.
His legal team wrote that that the tax charges “violate” the terms of the diversion agreement, and accused prosecutors of attempting to “backtrack and renege” on the deal.
Special counsel David Weiss, in his rebuttal filed last month, characterized Hunter Biden's arguments in court filings as a “conspiracy theory,” a “house of cards,” and “shapeshifting claims.”
Weiss said it was not prosecutors but Hunter Biden himself who walked away from negotiations. Weiss' office “proposed changes to the agreements” after the July 26 hearing where the deal fell apart, he wrote.
“The defendant rejected these counterproposals and refused further negotiations,” Weiss wrote.
Weiss made additional rebuttals to many of the other motions to dismiss, which included claims of improper venue and statute of limitations.
Weiss' office charged Hunter Biden in December with nine felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes over a three-year period.
The back taxes and penalties were previously paid in full by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden's confidant, Kevin Morris.
The first son, @HunterBiden, hours ago on the South Lawn. We haven't seen him this thin since he held court at the Fairview Inn with Kellie Ann Querry.
One should wonder whether Joe will summon @attyal1977 to the Residence tonight to explain why he didn't give Scarsi an offer he… https://t.co/Op3TwKIrOp pic.twitter.com/ydcikM2q7M
— Marco Polo (@MarcoPolo501c3) April 2, 2024
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