The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s federal tax case in California granted the defense’s request to delay the trial originally scheduled for July and set the new trial date for early September.
Attorneys for the president’s son argued that they needed more time to prepare for the case since Hunter is also facing trial in Delaware for federal gun charges starting on June 3.
Prosecutors from Special Counsel David Weiss’ office said in a counter-filing that Hunter Biden was “not above the law” and argued that he “should be treated like any other defendant.”
In a May 22 hearing on the defense’s motion, prosecutor Leo Wise pushed back against a delay, arguing that it was a straightforward tax case and a delay would be unnecessary. Wise told US District Judge Mark Scarsi, “The time to try this case is now.”
Scarsi agreed to push the trial back to September 5 but warned Hunter’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell that this delay would be the only one the defense would get from him.
Hunter, who did not attend the hearing, has pleaded not guilty to both the tax charges and the charges in the felony gun case. The younger Biden’s legal team has argued that the cases brought by his father’s Justice Department were politically motivated.
During the hearing, defense attorneys told the judge that they were having difficulty lining up expert witnesses to testify in the tax case.
Prosecutors informed the judge that they have about 30 witnesses lined up to testify in the trial.
Hunter is accused of failing to pay roughly $1.4 million in taxes over four years while he continued to live an “extravagant lifestyle.”
The back taxes were eventually paid after Hunter received the money from a wealthy friend.
Hunter’s attorneys earlier this year filed several motions to dismiss the tax charges. However, Judge Scarsi rejected all of them.
