US President Joe Biden's son Hunter has moved to throw out his criminal conviction on gun charges and dismiss a separate case accusing him of tax evasion based on an argument that the special counsel prosecuting him was unlawfully appointed.
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Biden's lawyers on Thursday cited a federal judge's decision on Monday to dismiss the criminal case accusing former President Donald Trump of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office.
Florida-based US District Judge Aileen Cannon found the appointment of the special counsel in that case, Jack Smith, violated the US Constitution because Congress had not given him the authority to pursue the case.
A different special counsel, David Weiss, secured Hunter Biden's conviction last month in Delaware federal court on charges he lied about his illegal drug use to buy a gun.
Weiss is also leading a tax case against Biden that is scheduled to go to trial in September.
Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty in June of lying about his drug use in 2018 on a federal form to buy a firearm that he had for about 11 days. The trial put a spotlight on a dark period in Hunter Biden's life during which he became addicted to crack cocaine after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. He has been sober since 2019.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the gun case, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there is no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She has not set a sentencing date.
with AP
Australian Associated Press
