July 15, 2024
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has withdrawn his request for a new trial in his federal gun case after federal prosecutors criticized his legal approach as a “misunderstanding of appellate practice” and for neglecting prior court orders.
On June 11, Hunter Biden was convicted on three counts related to lying about his drug addiction to obtain a firearm. He filed a motion for a new trial on June 24, claiming that Delaware federal Judge Maryellen Noreika lacked jurisdiction over his trial. Biden argued that there were pending rulings in his appeals case that called Noreika’s authority into question.
Federal prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office refuted Biden’s argument, emphasizing that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals had already authorized Judge Noreika to proceed with the trial. In a filing on Monday, prosecutors pointed out that the appeals court had dismissed Biden’s appeals with orders marked “Issued in Lieu of Mandate,” a crucial detail that Biden and his legal team failed to acknowledge.
Prosecutor Derek Hines wrote in the Monday filing, “When trial began on June 3, the Third Circuit had already dismissed both of the defendant’s appeals with orders stamped ‘in Lieu of Mandate’ and denied his petition for rehearing.” He added, “While the defendant repeatedly insisted before trial that his appeals divested this Court of jurisdiction, this is the first time he has spun this tale of the missing mandates.”
Hines made it clear that the dismissal orders provided no grounds for the court to reconsider its previous rulings, as the orders indicated that the appeals were non-appealable and did not affect the court’s jurisdiction.
Following this, Hunter Biden’s lead attorney, Abbe Lowell, filed a brief on Tuesday admitting the oversight. “As it appears that the Third Circuit views issuing a certified order ‘in lieu’ of a mandate as compliant with … procedure for shortening the time for issuance of a mandate, Mr. Biden withdraws his motion,” Lowell wrote.
Hunter Biden, a notable figure in his father’s administration following President Biden’s controversial June 27 debate against Donald Trump, faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year. However, federal sentencing guidelines suggest he is unlikely to receive the maximum sentence. Judge Noreika has yet to set a sentencing date.
Biden’s legal challenges do not end here. He is scheduled to go on trial on September 5 in Los Angeles, where he is accused of evading $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. An earlier attempt to delay this trial was rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in May, with prosecutors calling the appeal a “stunt to delay his trial.”
Public opinion is not in Biden’s favor. A recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that 60% of Americans, including 59% of Democrats, agreed with the verdict in the Delaware trial, with nearly half supporting a prison sentence for Hunter Biden.
As these legal proceedings continue, the implications for the Biden administration and the wider political landscape remain to be seen.
