Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors delivered a strongly worded rebuke Monday to Hunter Biden’s attempt to have a court authorize a subpoena for former President Donald Trump.
Special counsel David Weiss and his team wrote a lengthy response to Hunter Biden’s request for the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to authorize subpoenas for Trump and multiple former DOJ officials from his administration. (RELATED: ‘Coordinated Campaign’: Jim Jordan And James Comer Deliver Scathing Fact Check To Hunter Biden’s Attorney)
READ THE FILING:
“The United States respectfully opposes defendant Robert Hunter Biden’s request to issue subpoenas duces tecum,” the court filing reads. “His motion is meritless and should be denied.”
“Defendant asks the Court to enter an order directing subpoenas, which seek broadly worded categories of documents across seven years, to former President Donald J. Trump, former Attorney General William P. Barr, and two other former officials in the U.S. Department of Justice,” the document continues. (RELATED: House Republicans Tell Hunter Biden He Must Answer Questions Behind Closed Doors Before Public Hearing)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – JULY 26: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, arrives to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on July 26, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden is in court to review a plea deal reached with federal prosecutors on misdemeanor tax charges. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The DOJ document goes on to explain the legal issues with Hunter Biden’s argument and counters his attorney’s insistence of political bias against the first son. (RELATED: House Republicans Launch Website With Everything You Need To Know About The Biden Impeachment Inquiry)
“It is worth noting from the outset that defendant misunderstands the difference between pretrial arguments to dismiss an indictment and trial defenses. It is black-letter law that claims of vindictive and selective prosecution are not trial defenses and may only be brought and litigated pretrial. They are not defenses and, therefore, are never argued to trial juries,” the DOJ explains.
No charges were brought against Hunter Biden during Trump’s presidency, the DOJ points out. Weiss defended the integrity of his investigation when he testified in November before the Judiciary Committee, according to a transcript reviewed by the Daily Caller.
“In seeking discovery for a claim of selective prosecution, defendant fails to identify even one similarly situated individual who was not prosecuted for similar conduct. This omission alone precludes his request for discovery,” the DOJ added.
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on three federal gun charges and pleaded not guilty to the alleged offenses in October.
“He also identifies no constitutionally protected class to which he belongs and does not identify any evidence of discriminatory intent by the relevant decisionmakers, which is what the law requires in order to make out a claim of selective prosecution.”
“Defendant’s motion similarly fails to articulate any basis for a vindictive-prosecution claim. Defendant fails to identify what protected constitutional or statutory right he is being punished for asserting,” the DOJ said in the court filing.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss special counsel in August after Hunter Biden’s guilty plea deal fell apart in court and two IRS whistleblowers accused the DOJ of giving Hunter Biden special treatment under Weiss leadership as Delaware U.S. Attorney.
Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors in July and enter a pretrial diversion agreement for a single felony gun charge.
His guilty plea deal fell apart in court after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned an immunity provision inside of the pretrial diversion agreement. Inside the courtroom, the DOJ admitted Hunter Biden’s prosecutorial immunity had no precedent.
Biden ended up pleading not guilty to the two tax offenses. Weiss moved to have the Delaware tax charges dismissed after he became special counsel in order to charge Hunter Biden elsewhere. Noreika granted Weiss’ request and the Delaware tax charges were dismissed.
Weiss’ team is reportedly working with a California grand jury and subpoenaed Hunter Biden’s uncle James Biden as part of the ongoing investigation.
Weiss has not leveled new tax charges against Hunter Biden.