Hunter Biden lawyer argues David Weiss ‘barred’ from bringing gun charges

Hunter Biden’s indictment on felony gun charges should be “barred” by a previous agreement made with federal prosecutors, his attorney argued Thursday.

Attorney Abbe Lowell responded to the three-count indictment related to President Joe Biden’s son purchasing a revolver while he was addicted to cocaine in 2018, accusing U.S. Attorney David Weiss of “bending to political pressure” and alleging there was interference by “MAGA Republicans.”

TRUMPISM 2.0: HOW REALISTIC IS DONALD TRUMP’S 2024 PLATFORM

“We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court,” Lowell told the Washington Examiner.

The agreement with prosecutors would have allowed the younger Biden to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses from 2017 and 2018 and avoid prosecution on a felony gun charge by entering into a pretrial diversion program.

But the deal fell apart in July when a federal judge unexpectedly raised questions at a plea hearing about how the deal would affect prosecutors’ ability to bring future charges against the younger Biden.

The statute of limitations has yet to run its course on the misdemeanor charges, which are two counts of failure to pay income tax in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203. However, the absence of any reference to the tax charges prompted questions about whether prosecutors will still bring them against the younger Biden.

Constitutional attorney Andrew Lieb of Lieb at Law told the Washington Examiner that could mean that the “tax charges are going to be in another jurisdiction,” noting that prosecutors previously said future charges could be filed in either Washington, D.C., or California after the failed agreement.

Those alleged tax crimes remain uncharged for now, but Lieb said he would “be shocked” if Weiss didn’t bring future charges in the other two jurisdictions.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, charged the president’s son with three felonies: one for lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, one for making a false claim on a federal firearms application, and another for possessing an illegally obtained gun for 11 days, from Oct. 12 to Oct. 23, 2018.

Prosecutors are likely to argue that the diversion program is not in effect because it was contingent on the younger Biden pleading guilty to the misdemeanor tax charges, something he reneged on after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika wouldn’t sign off on the plea deal earlier this summer.

Lieb predicted that at least two of the three gun charges related to lying on his gun forms could be dismissed if the judge finds that the pretrial diversion agreement is binding, noting the “judge could neither agree nor deny that based on precedent that says a judge can’t be part of a pretrial diversion program.”

But even if Lowell isn’t able to convince Noreika to dismiss even one felony count, he believes recent decisions in several federal courts are on his client’s side to challenge the statute he is charged with violating.

On Aug. 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found the statute 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) unconstitutional, the same federal law Weiss charged Hunter Biden for on Thursday.

If the first son’s lawyers sought to challenge this same statute in Delaware federal court, the losing party would appeal to the 3rd Circuit, teeing up the possibility for a circuit split and a chance for the Supreme Court to consider the matter.

“Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 day[s] was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice,” Lowell said Thursday.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Weiss has said he would not address the media after the indictment. Lieb said the next course of action in this case would be an arraignment date for the younger Biden.

Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.