WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden requested a continuance on Monday in his federal case for possession of armas, asking an appeals court to suspend the judgment in Delaware scheduled for next month.
Lawyers for President Joe Biden’s son argued there is no urgent need to start the trial on June 3, the date set by the federal judge overseeing the case. They also mentioned the short time that will elapse between the Delaware trial and the beginning of another trial on tax charges in California.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to purchase a gun that he kept for about 11 days in Delaware. He has admitted to a cocaine addiction during that period, but his attorneys have said he did not break the law.
The attorneys asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear a request to dismiss the indictment. The petition was rejected by a three-judge panel that did not rule on the merits of its claims but said the court does not have jurisdiction to review the matter.
The lawyers have also appealed another decision by District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who rejected the claim that the case violates the Second Amendment of the Constitution on the possession of firearms.
These sentences paved the way for the Department of Justice to be forced to put Biden’s son on trial in the midst of his re-election campaign after allegations of preferential treatment to the son of the White House tenant.
Case in California
Hunter Biden is charged separately in the California tax case, which is initially scheduled for trial in late June.
The investigation seemed poised to conclude with a plea deal last year, but the deal fell apart after a judge raised questions about it, following a preferential deal with Hunter Biden. Biden was later indicted.
Under the deal, Biden would have gotten two years of probation after pleading guilty to minor tax crimes. He also would have avoided prosecution on the weapons charge if he stayed out of trouble.
His lawyers have argued that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to charge him amid strong criticism of the plea deal from Donald Trump and other Republicans. They also questioned the appointment of Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss as a special prosecutor to lead the prosecution.
Source: With information from AP
