President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden has asked a court to dismiss tax and gun charges against him, citing a similar ruling that threw out a separate prosecution of former president Donald Trump.
The requests in federal court in Delaware and California underscore the potential ramifications of US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents case against Mr Trump and the possibility that it could unsettle the legal landscape surrounding Justice Department special counsels.
Hunter Biden and Mr Trump were prosecuted by special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In dismissing the case against the former president, Judge Cannon ruled that the appointment of the special counsel who prosecuted him, Jack Smith, violated the Constitution because he was appointed directly to the position by Mr Garland instead of being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Mr Smith’s team has said the Justice Department followed long-established precedent – the courts upheld the Trump-era appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election interference — and has appealed Judge Cannon’s dismissal.
In court filings, lawyers for Mr Biden said the same logic should apply in his cases and should result in the dismissal of a pending tax prosecution in Los Angeles — currently set for trial in September — and a separate firearm case in Delaware, in which he was convicted in June of three felony charges.
Mr Biden’s legal team has previously raised similar arguments unsuccessfully, but still claim there are reasonable grounds to reconsider them.
Both cases are being overseen by judges nominated by former president Trump.
Aileen Cannon, the judge who threw out Mr Trump’s case, was also nominated by the former Republican president.
“Based on these new legal developments, Mr Biden moves to dismiss the indictment brought against him because the special counsel who initiated this prosecution was also appointed in violation of the appointments clause,” his lawyers wrote.
They also cited an opinion this month by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that questioned the propriety of a special counsel appointment.
“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” the lawyers added.
A spokesperson for Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who is leading the probe into Biden’s actions, said they are aware of the filings from his legal team and “will respond in due course.”
Jurors found Biden guilty in June of lying about his drug use in 2018 on a federal form to buy a firearm that he had for about 11 days.
The trial put a spotlight on a dark period in Biden’s life during which he became addicted to crack cocaine after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. Biden claims he has been sober since 2019.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the gun case by US District Judge Maryellen Noreika.
However, as a first-time offender, he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there is no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She has not set a sentencing date.
The tax case centres around an unpaid tax bill of about 1.4 million dollars, which prosecutors argue Biden failed to pay for over four years.
The back taxes have since been paid.
