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Abbe Lowell, attorney for Hunter Biden, appeared in a Los Angeles federal courtroom Wednesday afternoon to argue that all of the criminal charges filed against his client in California should be dismissed. Hunter Biden did not attend.
A total of eight motions to dismiss were filed by the defense to be considered by US District Judge Mark Scarsi. They argue that the nine-count indictment should be dismissed because:
- July 2023 Diversion Agreement is in effect, therefore giving Hunter Biden immunity
- Special Counsel David Weiss was unlawfully appointed, and the prosecution violates the Appropriations Clause
- Selective and Vindictive Prosecution and Breach of Separation of Powers
- Due Process violations based on outrageous government conduct
- Improper venue
- Failure to state a claim and lack of specificity
Judge Mark Scarsi, the judge in the case, told both sides he’d make a ruling on the several petitions to dismiss by April 17.
It’s interesting that the defense argued that Weiss was unlawfully appointed, since that argues that Hunter’s father’s appointee, Merrick Garland, acted unlawfully. Lots of Republicans make that argument about any number of the Garland DOJ’s actions, but it’s rare for a Democrat to argue that. Lowell argued that the Special Counsel must be someone outside of the government.
Ever since the demise of Hunter’s plea agreement in Delaware last summer, legal analysts predicted that he would argue that the diversion agreement portion of the plea arrangement was already in effect even though the plea agreement fell through, because there was verbiage in each document stating that they stood on their own, even if the other wasn’t effected. Weiss’ office argues that the diversion agreement had to be approved by the probation department and that that never happened, so the diversion agreement is invalid.
