Hunter Biden wants the gun charges filed against him last month by Special Counsel David Weiss tossed. Biden’s attorneys argue in a new filing that the Diversion Agreement that their client signed in June precludes prosecution for the gun charges. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison or a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Judge Maryellen Noreika tossed the original plea agreement between the Justice Department and Biden in July because it combined the gun charges with the unrelated tax charges against him.
Biden Attorneys Claim Immunity From Prosecution
“Mr. Biden maintains that the ‘stand alone,’ ‘bilateral’ Diversion Agreement that both parties signed remains in force, and he will seek to dismiss the Indictment against him pursuant to the immunity provisions of that Agreement,” Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell wrote in the filing.
Lowell contends the agreement remains in effect. The agreement in question stated, “The United States agrees not to criminally prosecute Biden outside of the terms of the agreement.”
Weiss and his team deny the agreement remains in effect.
“If the Special Counsel no longer wishes to pursue that charge, it has the right to do that,” Biden’s lawyers wrote.
Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. He was ordered to abstain from owning a firearm to report all international travel to the proper authorities and to enter a substance abuse counseling program.
The agreement fell apart after prosecutors were forced to admit that Biden remains under investigation for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Biden’s then-attorney told the judge there was not a deal.
Hunter Biden Indicted For Illegal Gun Purchase
Biden now faces prosecution for illegally obtaining a Colt pistol in October 2018. The president’s son lied on the ATF 4473 background check form stating that he had not used illicit drugs in the prior year.
He admitted in his 2021 autobiography “Beautiful Things” that he had been a compulsive crack addict at the time he bought the gun. He had the gun in his possession for about 11 days before his sister-in-law/girlfriend tossed the weapon in the trash can at a nearby grocery store in Wilmington, Del., where they shopped together.
The shop owner discovered the gun in the trash and called the Delaware State Police. The FBI also was notified.
Robert Jones, an attorney representing Biden in the gun case, withdrew his representation of Biden on Friday.
“Mr. Biden has been advised of, and consents to, our withdrawal. He also agrees this withdrawal will cause no material adverse effect or prejudice to him and remains completely satisfied with Messrs. [Abbe] Lowell’s and [Bartholomew] Dalton’s continued representation of him,” Jones said in a court filing.
Biden Plans 2nd Amendment Defense
Biden’s defense likely will hinge on the Second Amendment and the constitutionality of the law he was charged under.
“If people have paid attention, the only law that’s changed [since the plea deal dissolved] has been a court of appeals in the federal system that has called that statute unconstitutional,” Lowell said last month in an interview on MSNBC.
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
