A federal judge dismissed the gun case against Hunter Biden on Tuesday after President Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika closed the case the week before Hunter Biden was to be sentenced. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison, though as a first-time offender he likely would have gotten far less time or avoided prison entirely.
Prosecutors opposed dismissing the case, arguing in court documents that a pardon shouldn’t wipe away the case “as if it never occurred.” Hunter Biden was convicted on three felonies after he lied on a federal form to purchase a gun in Delaware by saying he wasn’t a drug user in 2018, a period when he has acknowledged being addicted.
The Justice Department special counsel is also opposed to dismissing a case filed in California after Hunter Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes. U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received.
Still, Scarsi was critical of the president’s assertion that his son was singled out for political reasons, saying two judges had rejected similar arguments from his defense attorneys.
The president’s Sunday decision to go back on previous pledges and issue his son a blanket federal pardon for actions over the past 11 years has sparked a political uproar in Washington, drawing criticism from many Democrats as well as Republicans and threatening to cloud Mr. Biden’s legacy as he prepares to leave office on Jan. 20.
In their own motion Tuesday, lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump cited the pardon in a request that Trump’s conviction in the New York “hush money” case be dismissed.
Hunter Biden was originally supposed to strike a plea deal with prosecutors last year that would have spared him prison time, but the agreement fell apart after Noreika questioned unusual aspects of it.
In his statement announcing the pardon, Mr. Biden said that “from the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
Mr. Biden alleged that his son “was treated differently” than others in similar circumstances and that the charges were brought after “several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.
The pardon applies to any crimes Hunter may have committed between Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024.
Hunter Biden was accused of lying on paperwork in order to purchase a gun in October 2018 while he was addicted to illegal drugs. Federal law prohibits users of illegal drugs from owning firearms.
In June, a Delaware jury found him guilty of one count each of making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed firearms dealer, and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Then in September, Hunter reached a plea deal on nine counts in a federal tax evasion case in Los Angeles. He faced up to 17 years in prison in that case prior to the pardon.
