Judge threatens to sanction Hunter Biden’s lawyers for ‘false statements’

A federal judge has threatened to sanction Hunter Biden’s lawyers for making “false statements” in his motion calling for the dismissal of his criminal charges in California.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi issued an order Wednesday asking Hunter Biden’s attorneys to “show cause why sanctions should not be imposed for false statements in the motion.” Scarsi wrote that Biden’s lawyers falsely claimed that U.S. Attorney David Weiss only brought charges against the president’s son after he was named special counsel.

“These statements, however, are not true, and Mr. Biden’s lawyer knows they are not true.” Scarsi wrote.

Biden’s lawyers filed a motion last week asking the judge to dismiss his criminal charges in California, where he is scheduled to stand trial this fall on charges of filing false tax returns and tax evasion. They also filed a motion asking a Delaware judge to dismiss their criminal charges in their federal gun case, which resulted in a conviction last month.

In both motions, attorneys cited U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s recent decision to dismiss former President Trump’s Florida confidential documents indictments, which ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith was not lawfully appointed. Cannon said selecting him as special counsel “effectively usurps” Congress’s constitutional role in the nomination process.

Biden’s team attempted to use this ruling as a reason why his charges should be dismissed, writing that Weiss spent years as a U.S. Attorney “to bring whatever charges he believed were warranted, but he did not bring any charges until he was given the title of Counsel Special he looked for.”

Scarsi wrote in his order that Weiss brought the initial charges against Biden as U.S. attorney and before he was named special counsel. Biden was expected to plead guilty, but after the plea deal fell apart last year, Weiss charged him and began preparing to go to trial.

“The distortions in the current motion are not trivial. Mr. Weiss’s institution of charges against Mr. Biden in his capacity as U.S. Attorney provides a significant distinction between this case and the non-binding district court ruling on which Mr. Biden bases his motion,” Scarsi wrote.

“But Mr. Biden’s motion does not address this distinction; instead, the lawyer avoids the issue by misrepresenting the history of the case,” he continued, adding that the court “has little tolerance for the lawyer’s lack of candor.”

Scarsi said Biden’s team has seven days to respond to the order and that failure to “provide a timely and satisfactory response will result in sanctions.”

The Hill has reached out to Biden’s lawyers for comment.

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