Judge Rejects Hunter Biden’s Bid to Have Tax Case Tossed

Dan Ladden-Hall
·1 min read
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

A federal judge in California ruled against Hunter Biden on Monday, rejecting eight separate motions from the president’s son arguing that the tax charges he’s facing should be thrown out.

U.S. District Judge Marc Scarsi rejected arguments that the charges are part of a politically motivated prosecution and that Biden had immunity from a plea deal he’d previously negotiated. Biden has pleaded not guilty to felonies and misdemeanors related to an alleged scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes between 2016-2019.

Judge Offers Skeptical Retort to Hunter Biden Lawyers’ Bid in Tax Case

Scarsi’s ruling means that the case is likely to go to trial on its scheduled June 20 start date. Biden also faces the prospect of another trial in Delaware, where prosecutors have charged him in relation to an allegedly unlawful gun purchase, which he denies.

Biden has made a series of similar arguments to dismiss the charges in the firearm case that Scarsi rejected Monday, but the Delaware judge, Maryellen Noreika, has not yet ruled on those efforts.

If Noreika is similarly unimpressed, the Delaware trial will likely get underway on June 3.

That means Biden—the first child of an incumbent president to be criminally charged—could be facing two trials at the height of his father’s re-election campaign. President Joe Biden’s rival, Donald Trump, is himself facing four criminal trials.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Golfer's prompt release from jail angers some who recall city's police turmoil

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler’s arrest and prompt release from a Louisville jail Friday that let him play in a high-profile tournament after being booked on charges including felony assault has sparked questions on social media over whether he was given preferential treatment because of his fame. They recall what they consider malfeasance by the Louisville police department, which a national report last year found has used excessive force and invalid search warrants

  • Canadian teen says he was fined $580 at McDonald's drive-thru for using app; police dispute

    Mason Prima said he was fined $580 for opening the McDonald's app at a drive-thru in Saskatoon, Canada but police have rejected his story.

  • ‘You’re Done’: Cassie’s Husband Pens Scathing Letter on Abuse After Diddy Video

    Paul Morigi/Getty ImagesAfter CNN released horrifying footage from 2016 that showed Diddy assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, Cassie’s husband put abusers on blast in a scathing letter against domestic violence perpetrators.Alex Fine, who married Cassie in 2019, posted the letter on Instagram on Friday afternoon. He didn’t hold back from flaming men who have raised a hand against the women in their lives. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) “Men who

  • Los Angeles County Explains Why It Won’t Prosecute Diddy Despite Video

    REUTERSThe Los Angeles District Attorney’s office has revealed why it won’t be prosecuting Sean “Diddy” Combs after horrific footage showed him brutally attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a hotel.The office said in an Instagram post that because the alleged attack happened on March 5, 2016, the window to prosecute has lapsed. California’s statute of limitations for simple assault is one year, while aggravated assault is three years. “We are aware of the video that has been circulati

  • Arizona man sentenced to natural life in prison for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive

    An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive in a hand-dug grave near their home, authorities said. Seven years after the murder, David Pagniano decided to plead guilty before his trial was scheduled to start and allowed a judge to determine his sentence without a plea agreement. Pagniano, 62, also was sentenced on May 9 to a 16 ½-year prison term for kidnapping, forgery and fraud, according to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.

  • Mansfield nursery worker smeared leftovers in toddler's face

    Helen Walker, 49, was caught on CCTV immediately trying to cover up what she had done, police said.

  • 17-year-old girl sex trafficked from Mexico to US is rescued after texting 911 for help

    A 17-year-old girl, a trafficking victim, was rescued by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office in California after texting 911, authorities said.

  • They’ve been stuck for 7 weeks on the ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge. This is what life is like for the Dali crew

    It could be weeks or even months before crew members can leave, due to complications beyond their control. Here’s why they’re still confined – and how they’re coping

  • ‘We’ll See You at Your House:’ How Fear and Menace Are Transforming Politics

    One Friday last month, Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of Congress from Maryland, spent a chunk of his day in court securing a protective order. It was not his first. Raskin, who played a leading role in Donald Trump’s second impeachment hearing, said he received about 50 menacing calls, emails and letters every month that are turned over to the Capitol Police. His latest court visit was prompted by a man who showed up at his house and screamed in his face about the COVID-19 vaccine, Trump’s i

  • An Hours-Long Home Invasion, a Triple Murder, and a Father Who Survived: Inside the Petit Family Murders

    In the early morning hours of July 23, two men broke into the Petits' Cheshire, Conn., home, held them family hostage for hours and assaulted them

  • ‘How do you get hypothermia in a prison?’ Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates

    RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: “unbearable” conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia. “How do you get hypothermia in a prison?” the investigator asked. “You shouldn’t.” The exchange, captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, took place during an investigation into the death of Charles Givens, a developmentally disabled inmate at

  • SIU investigating woman's death after arrest in Barrie

    Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a 28-year-old woman died in hospital Saturday morning after she was arrested in Barrie. Barrie police arrested the woman on Thursday near 49 Colter Street for outstanding warrants, the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said in a news release Saturday. She was taken to the station and held in a cell.On Friday, Ontario police transported the woman from the Barrie police station to Central North Correctional Centre, the SIU said. The woman

  • "He Had Killed His Own Son, Niece, And Brother Later That Day" And 26 More Terrifying Stories About People Who Encountered Or Knew Killers

    "I look up and make eye contact and he had more blood splattered on his face, and a huge grin."

  • Man gets 30 years in prison for attacking ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man who broke into the home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seeking to hold her hostage and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison. The attack on Paul Pelosi, who was 82 at the time, was captured on police body camera video just days before the 2022 midterm elections and sent shockwaves through the political world. He suffered two head wounds including a skull fracture that was mended with plates and screws he will have for the

  • Canada police say dead US rapist was a serial killer

    Police said the suspect, who died in an Idaho prison in 2011, may be behind other unsolved killings.

  • Ontario's police watchdog investigating death of 28-year-old woman arrested in Barrie

    BARRIE, Ont. — Ontario's police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who passed out while officers were taking her to jail. The Special Investigations Unit says officers with the Barrie Police Service arrested the woman on Thursday night because she was wanted on outstanding warrants. The agency says the officers took the woman to a police station, where she was kept in a cell. The following day, the SIU says special constables with the Ontario Provincial Police were taking the woman f

  • Diddy admits beating ex-girlfriend Cassie, says he's sorry, calls his actions 'inexcusable'

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs admitted that he beat his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016 after CNN released video of the attack, saying in a video apology he was “truly sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.” “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” the music mogul said in a video statement posted Sunday to Instagram and Facebook. The security video aired Friday shows Combs, wearing only a white to

  • Man dead after being found shot inside car in Brampton, police say

    A man has died after he was found shot in a residential area in Brampton Saturday morning, police say.Peel Regional Police said they were called to the scene of a shooting at Mississauga Road and Sandalwood Parkway shortly before 7:30 a.m.When officers arrived they found the victim inside a car parked in a driveway at one of the residences at Ivor Crescent, Const. Richard Chin said.The man was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries but later died, Chin said.Peel police's homici

  • Officials seize around $500,000 worth of elvers from Toronto's Pearson airport

    TORONTO — A major seizure of baby eels at Toronto's Pearson International Airport that federal officials say were destined for shipment overseas are estimated to be worth between $400,000 and $500,000. The seizure of 109 kilograms of elvers was carried out on Wednesday by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canada Border Services Agency. "Our message is crystal clear: do not travel to Nova Scotia to illegally fish or export elvers this year, enforcement officers will be waiting for yo

  • Andrei Donet found guilty of 2nd-degree murder of Jannai Dopwell-Bailey

    A jury found Andrei Donet guilty of the second-degree murder of 16-year-old Jannai Dopwell-Bailey. Donet was 18 when he was arrested in connection with the case in 2021. The second-degree murder conviction comes with an automatic life sentence in prison with no possibility of parole before 10 years.Dopwell-Bailey was fatally stabbed outside a high school in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges district in 2021. Crown prosecutor Katerine Brabant said Donet's distinctive tattoos seen in a video he published