While the eyes of the country have been focused on Joe Biden amid his ceasing presidential term and sudden drop of his re-election bid, his son Hunter is still at the center of a hefty legal battle.
The latest update in the first son’s tax evasion case saw his legal team attempt to have his own charges dropped by citing a ruling that dismissed former president Donald Trump’s infamous classified documents case. District Judge Mark Scarsi rejected Hunter’s motion on Monday August 19 in a Los Angeles court.
He wrote that his decision was reached based on technical rules and procedures, explaining that the motion was filed late and served as a halfhearted effort to hash out a legal question that he had already rejected. Ultimately, however, the decision prevents Hunter from enjoying the same results as Trump did when he made a similar appeal.
The president’s son was indicted at the end of last year and has pleaded not guilty to nine charges related to tax evasion, including failing to file and pay taxes, skipping out on an assessment, and filing a fake form.
Not unlike Trump—who made the argument in his classified documents case—Hunter pointed out that the special counsel from the Department of Justice (DOJ) who charged him was funded illegally and appointed unconstitutionally. David Weiss, the prosecutor in Hunter’s case, used to serve as the federal attorney in Delaware, a position confirmed by the Senate.
Special counsel Jack Smith, on the other hand, has not been in a role that was approved by the Senate and was only promoted to his position by the attorney general. Scarsi’s rejection of Hunter’s appeal comes just over a month after Judge Aileen Cannon—who was appointed by Trump, as was Scarsi—dismissed the former president’s classified documents case.
In her decision, the federal judge ruled that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed via the Appropriations Clause, which moderates the funding of the federal government. The special counsel was also illegally funded “without statutory authorization,” Cannon found.
