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Hunter Biden’s indictment will be sought by Special Counsel David Weiss by September 29.
The government and the younger Biden’s legal team have traded accusations in recent weeks over the collapse of two previously negotiated agreements that would have ended a protracted investigation into his tax and business dealings. Weiss’s statement, made in an update to the federal court in Delaware, confirmed that prosecutors are moving forward with a criminal case against the younger Biden.
Biden had anticipated that he would agree to other conditions and enter a guilty plea to two misdemeanor tax counts in order to avoid prosecution on a gun charge and avoid jail time, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Instead, the agreement fell apart during a court hearing in July, attempts to save it came to a standstill, and Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss of Delaware as a special counsel to carry on the investigation.
Weiss stated in the brief filing that the government was required to obtain a grand jury indictment by Friday, September 29 due to the legal clock being set in motion by the initial filing of the case.
“The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date,” the filing said.
The plea agreement and the separate agreement regarding the firearms charge were both referred to by the government as a “unexecuted draft.” The legal team for Hunter Biden claims that because the Justice Department violated the previously agreed-upon terms, the gun deal—also known as a diversion agreement—should stand.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys stated in their own Wednesday filing that the court had received a “executed copy” of the diversion agreement and that Biden would continue to abide by its terms. This came shortly after the government’s memo.
Hunter Biden’s legal issues are prolonged and made worse by the possibility of an impending indictment while his father runs for re-election in 2024.
A previous attempt by the prosecution to have the tax charges dropped was made on the grounds that the case should be tried in California or Washington, D.C., where Biden resided during the years in question in the case, 2017 and 2018.
The younger Biden’s attorneys, Chris Clark and Abbe Lowell, received a letter on Wednesday from the Republican leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means committees requesting a number of documents and communications between them and Weiss.
They claimed that much of that information had already been made public in recent news reports.
“The information contained in these articles reinforces serious concerns regarding whether the Department has handled a case involving President Biden’s son in an impartial manner that is consistent with other prosecutions.” Clark left the defense team last month, saying he would testify as a witness in future battles over the now-defunct agreement.
