Hunter Biden’s legal troubles will enter a new phase on Wednesday when he appears in a California courtroom to have his motions for dismissal heard by a federal judge. Should the judge refuse to dismiss the nine charges — including three felonies — levied against him, Mr. Biden will go to trial on June 20, just as his father’s re-election campaign is expected to kick into high gear. 

Mr. Biden fils was indicted by Special Counsel David Weiss on December 7 for engaging “in a four-year scheme in which he chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns.”

He faces four misdemeanor charges of failing to pay his taxes, two misdemeanor charges of failing to file, two felony counts of failing to file, and one felony charge of filing a false return. If convicted, Mr. Biden faces up to 17 years in federal prison and a hefty fine. 

He also faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted in a separate case, brought by Mr. Weiss in Delaware, regarding Mr. Biden’s illegal purchase of a gun in 2018 while he was actively addicted to drugs and alcohol. 

Regarding the tax charges, after pleading not guilty in January, Mr. Biden’s attorneys began filing a number of motions to have the case dismissed. Mr. Biden’s lawyers have argued that his “sweetheart plea deal,” as House Republicans have repeatedly called it, that was tossed out by a judge last year is actually still in effect; that Mr. Weiss was illegally appointed; and that Mr. Biden is the victim of “selective” prosecution, among other claims. 

In one of those motions to dismiss, Mr. Biden’s defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, argues that Mr. Weiss charged the first son with failure to pay in 2019 “in response to pressure from extremist Republicans.”

“Mr. Biden did timely disclose his tax liability and he ultimately paid his 2019 taxes, with interest and penalties, at a time when the federal government was especially mindful in being lenient about late payments due to the COVID-19 epidemic,” Mr. Lowell argues, pointing out that millions of Americans received leniency for paying their taxes late for the tax year 2019 due to the pandemic that began in 2020. 

“Why should Mr. Biden be treated any differently than millions of taxpayers for tax year 2019?” Mr. Lowell asks. “The extension and relief programs provided by the IRS in 2020 and 2022, which covered tax year 2019, confirm this was not an enforcement priority for the IRS.”

The merit of these motions for dismissal will be adjudicated by Judge Mark Scarsi of the Central District of California — an appointee of President Trump. 

Mr. Trump looms large in Mr. Biden’s trials. Mr. Lowell has argued both in the California case and in Mr. Biden’s Delaware prosecution for an illegal gun purchase — also being led by Mr. Weiss — was the result of pressure from supporters of the 45th president. 

Mr. Lowell first argued in the Delaware court that the first son is a victim of a “vindictive” prosecution by Mr. Weiss, who was appointed by Mr. Trump and is now doing the bidding of congressional Republicans and “extremists” on the right. 

“Former President Trump is not the President of the United States,” Mr. Weiss’s office said in response to Mr. Lowell’s accusations. “The defendant fails to explain how President Biden or the Attorney General, to whom the Special Counsel reports, or the Special Counsel himself, or his team of prosecutors, are acting at the direction of former President Trump or Congressional Republicans.” 

At one point, Mr. Lowell asked the presiding judge in the Delaware case, Judge Maryellen Noreika, to subpoena Mr. Trump for a deposition about his alleged involvement in the prosecution of the first son. Mr. Lowell said in that argument that Attorney General Barr opened “a dedicated channel” to federal prosecutors from Mayor Giuliani in order to feed information about the first son to law enforcement.