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The Office of Special Counsel David Weiss appeared to push back on Monday against President Joe Biden’s claims that the prosecution of Hunter Biden was politically motivated, calling such allegations “baseless.” is.
On Sunday night, in a court challenging Hunter Biden’s request to dismiss charges in California because of his father’s pardon, Weiss said many justices had already weighed in on the younger Biden’s vindictive prosecution. He pointed out that the claim was dismissed.
In a statement announcing the “full and unconditional” pardon, the president noted that Weiss’ lawsuit resulted in a conviction on gun-related charges. “I’ve seen people prosecuted.” Guilty pleas to tax and fraud charges in Delaware and California.
“I believe in the judicial system, but as I have worked on this issue, I also believe that raw politics has infected this process and that has led to miscarriages of justice,” Biden said.
In a court filing, Weiss’ office did not directly address the president’s statement, but noted that Hunter Biden had filed eight motions to dismiss the California indictment, “Why Dismiss?” We held every conceivable argument as to what should be done, and all of them were determined to be without merit.”
“Notably, defendant argued that the indictment was the product of retaliatory and selective prosecution. The court rejected that argument, finding that:”[a]The court said during the hearing that the defendant had made the allegations without any evidence. “And there is no evidence of retaliatory or selective prosecution in this case, nor has there ever been any evidence of it,” the filing states.
The judge noted that Hunter Biden had “made similar baseless accusations” in the Delaware case, which the judge also rejected. Three appellate court panels also rejected Hunter Biden’s claims, according to the filing.
“A total of 11 different Article III judges, appointed by six different presidents, including his father, considered and rejected the defendant’s claims, including his claim for selective and retaliatory prosecution. ‘, the filing states.
In a filing Sunday night, Hunter Biden’s attorney Abby Lowell argued that a presidential pardon “requires automatic dismissal of the indictment.”
On Sunday night, President Biden announced a “full and unconditional pardon” for Hunter Biden on federal firearms and tax evasion charges.
In one filing in California and another in Delaware, Weiss argued that courts typically “do not dismiss charges when a pardon is granted.”
“The government does not dispute that the defendant was subjected to an act of mercy. That does not make the grand jury’s decision to indict him based on a finding of probable cause as if it had never occurred. “This does not mean it should be wiped out,” Delaware’s filing said.
“Also, just because a defendant falsely alleges that the charges are the result of some ulterior motive or selective prosecution, does not mean that the defendant’s charges should be dismissed. , no court has agreed with the defendant regarding his request to dismiss the appeal, adding that “the indictment finds no support in law.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
In response to Weiss’s filing late Monday, Lowell argued that the judge had the right and reason to dismiss the underlying charges.
“Mr. Biden has not yet been sentenced and no judgment has been rendered in this case. Since no judgment has been rendered in this case and will not be rendered, the appropriate solution is through a pardon. We are dismissing the charges with one caveat,” Lowell said. I wrote.
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced in both cases this month.
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:
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