A federal judge overseeing the federal government’s tax case against Hunter Biden agreed on Wednesday to postpone his trial for nearly three months.
The ruling roiled the prosecution, which argued there had been more than enough time for the defendant to prepare a defense.
The son of President Joe Biden was indicted on nine federal charges related to tax evasion in December and had been scheduled to go to trial on June 20.
According to NBC News, Hunter Biden now has a court date of Sept. 5 after his defense team successfully argued he needed more time to prepare his defense.
His legal team argued to U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi of California that because the defendant is fighting unresolved gun charges in Delaware, a trial beginning within the next few weeks would place an undue burden upon him.
Hunter Biden will go to trial on June 3 on the gun charge, which stems from an allegation he purchased a handgun in 2018 during a time in which he has since admitted he was in the throes of drug addiction.
The gun was thrown away in a public trash can 11 days after he purchased it.
Hunter Biden’s legal team tried to delay that trial earlier this week but was unsuccessful, CNN reported.
Scarsi awarded the president’s son a victory when agreed to delay the tax trial.
Will Hunter Biden be found guilty?
Yes: 75% (3 Votes)
No: 25% (1 Votes)
However, the judge previously refused to throw out some of the nine federal tax charges Hunter Biden is facing – meaning he will face each of the charges at the end of the summer.
Federal prosecutor Leo Wise told Scarsi that a “delay has consequences” when arguing against the ruling.
Per NBC News, Wise said the separate cases Hunter Biden faces are each “simple.”
“There’s a lot of noise around this case,” the federal prosecutor said. “But that doesn’t make it complex or challenging.”
Wise estimated trying Biden on charges of tax evasion would take six days.
Scarsi — who was nominated to the court by former President Donald Trump — ruled out any further delays in the case when he said, “We will go forward on the 5th [of September].”
Hunter Biden faces four misdemeanor counts of failure to pay taxes and two misdemeanor counts of failure to file taxes.
He also faces one felony charge of tax evasion and two felony charges of filing a false tax return.
When Hunter Biden was charged by special counsel David Weiss last year, the Justice Department announced the president’s son faced a maximum of 17 years in prison.
The DOJ alleged, “Hunter Biden engaged 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.”
According to CNN, Hunter Biden has claimed the charges against him in both federal cases are “political.”
A plea deal on the gun and tax charges fell apart last year after federal Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about the immunity the president’s son would receive.
