A Federal Judge Just Gave Hunter Biden Exactly What He Wanted

A federal judge presiding over the government’s tax case against Hunter Biden decided on Wednesday to delay his trial by nearly three months.

This decision upset the prosecution, which argued that the defendant had already had ample time to prepare his defense.

President Joe Biden’s son was indicted on nine federal charges related to tax evasion in December, with an initial trial date set for June 20.

According to NBC News, Hunter Biden’s new court date is now September 5. His defense team successfully argued for more time to prepare his defense.

His lawyers argued to U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi of California that starting the trial in a few weeks would place an undue burden on Hunter Biden, as he is also dealing with unresolved gun charges in Delaware.

Hunter Biden will face trial on June 3 for the gun charge, which involves an allegation that he purchased a handgun in 2018 while he was struggling with drug addiction, a fact he has since admitted.

The gun was discarded in a public trash can 11 days after its purchase.

Earlier this week, Hunter Biden’s legal team attempted to delay that trial but was unsuccessful, according to CNN.

Scarsi granted a victory to the president’s son by agreeing to delay the tax trial.

However, the judge previously declined to dismiss any of the nine federal tax charges Hunter Biden faces, meaning he will confront all the charges at the end of the summer.

Federal prosecutor Leo Wise argued against the delay, stating that a “delay has consequences.”

Per NBC News, Wise commented that the separate cases Hunter Biden faces are each “simple.”

“There’s a lot of noise around this case,” the federal prosecutor said. “But that doesn’t make it complex or challenging.”

Wise estimated that the trial on tax evasion charges would take six days.

Scarsi, appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump, ruled out any further delays, saying, “We will go forward on the 5th [of September].”

Hunter Biden faces four misdemeanor counts of failure to pay taxes and two misdemeanor counts of failure to file taxes.

Additionally, he faces one felony charge of tax evasion and two felony charges of filing a false tax return.

When Hunter Biden was charged by special counsel David Weiss last year, the Justice Department announced that he faced a maximum of 17 years in prison.

The DOJ alleged, “Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme in which he chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns.”

According to CNN, Hunter Biden has claimed that the charges against him in both federal cases are “political.”

A plea deal on the gun and tax charges fell apart last year after federal Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about the immunity the president’s son would receive.