A federal judge on Wednesday granted Biden Hunterrequest to postpone his trial in tax charges which was scheduled to begin next month in California.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark C. Scarsi granted a motion from Biden’s legal team to move the tax trial from its previously scheduled start date of June 20 to begin on September 5.
Last month, the same judge denied Biden’s offer reject or at least dismiss charges from the indictment that include allegations that he failed pay taxesfailed to file an application, avoided a citation and filled out a fraudulent form.
A lawyer from the president’s son argued that his team would not have enough time to prepare for trial by June 20 due to Biden being tried in a separate case on gun charges in Delaware, which is scheduled to begin on June 3.
The lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he feared Biden’s gun case could last longer than previously anticipated, giving him little or no time to transition to the tax case, arguing, “there’s a lot to do.” .
Lowell also said Biden’s defense team has struggled to obtain defense experts due to concerns about involvement in a high-profile case. A tax expert who has been confirmed is currently involved in a separate trial and needs more time to prepare once his other trial work is completed, Lowell said.
He added that his team also needed more time to prepare Biden for a possible deposition.
A prosecutor in Special Counsel David Weiss’s office, Leo Wise, pushed back, arguing that a “delay has consequences.”
Wise said his team has subpoenaed 30 witnesses, who have scheduled appointments for June. He also took aim at the defense’s claim of having difficulty finding experts, arguing, “You can hire an expert to say anything,” Wise said and they are “everywhere, at any price.”
Wise also described both of Biden’s tests as “simple cases.”
“There is a lot of noise surrounding this case,” Wise said. “But that doesn’t make it complex or challenging.” Wise told the court that he estimated his lead case for the tax trial would take six days.
Scarsi appeared reluctant to grant the request, given that the trial date was set before the Delaware court set the trial date for the gun charges, June 3, but after a prolonged discussion with Lowell, in which the High-profile lawyer said he chose September to leave time for appellate rulings, a family vacation and an unrelated oral argument at the Fifth Circuit, Scarsi relented.
“Day 5 will be day 5”, concluded Scarsi, definitively ruling out any further delays. “We will go ahead on the 5th.”
Scarsi’s order comes one day after a federal appeals court on Tuesday denied Hunter Biden’s Request for postpone the trial on gun charges linked to possession of a weapon while using narcotics.
Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges in both cases.
Lowell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. Weiss’ office declined to comment.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
