Judge denies Hunter Biden's attempt to dismiss federal gun charges

A judge in Delaware has denied attempts by President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden to dismiss three federal gun charges, all but ensuring a trial will move forward this summer.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden in December filed a flurry of challenges to an indictment brought by special counsel David Weiss, challenging Weiss' authority to file charges and claiming the indictment came as the result of a selective and vindictive prosecution.

Defense attorneys also argued that an immunity provision tethered to Hunter Biden's ill-fated plea agreement remained in effect.

Prosecutors say Hunter Biden lied on a federal form about his drug use when he obtained a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver in 2018, after he later acknowledged in his memoir, "Beautiful Things," that he was addicted to drugs around that time. He owned the firearm for eleven days and never fired it, his attorneys have said.

Weiss' office in January pushed back on Hunter Biden's efforts to dismiss the case, calling his various arguments "absurd," "stunningly weak and wholly unsupported by facts and law," and "a fiction designed for a Hollywood script."

On Friday, Judge Maryellen Noreika sided with prosecutors, ensuring that the case will move forward to trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in early June.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden had rested their hopes for dismissal in large part on their claim that an immunity provision in their plea deal, which ultimately fell apart, was ratified when both parties signed it. But Weiss' office argued that the contract required approval from a probation officer, and the probation officer never signed it.

Noreika wrote Friday that "the relevant language [in the agreement] unambiguously requires probation to approve the agreement."

Hunter Biden had also argued that Weiss "buckled" under political pressure from Republicans and former President Donald Trump. But Noreika issued a stinging rebuke.

"At best, [Hunter Biden] has generically alleged that individuals from the prior administration were or are targeting him (or his father) and therefore his prosecution here must be vindictive," Noreika wrote. "The problem with this argument is that the charging decision at issue was made during this administration -- by Special Counsel Weiss -- at a time when the head of the Executive Branch prosecuting Defendant is Defendant's father."

"Defendant's claim is effectively that his own father targeted him for being his son, a claim that is nonsensical under the facts here," Noreika wrote.

The ruling marks another legal setback for Hunter Biden after a federal judge in California early this month blocked similar challenges to a nine-count indictment on tax charges. That case is expected to go to trial just weeks after the Delaware gun case.