U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said the president's characterization of the charges "stand in tension with the case record."
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Judge in Hunter Biden tax case calls president's pardon statement an attempt to 'rewrite history'
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said the president's characterization of the charges "stand in tension with the case record."
The judge who presided over the California tax fraud case against Hunter Biden called out the president for mischaracterizing and minimizing the charges against his son in announcing why he was pardoning him.
"The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history," U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi wrote in a ruling late Tuesday.
An attorney for Hunter Biden had asked the judge to dismiss the indictment against his client in light of President Joe Biden's pardon on Sunday night, but did not initially submit a formal copy of the pardon, and instead sent a link to the president's statement saying that his son had been "selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted" and was the victim of a "miscarriage of justice."
Scarsi said the president’s “representations” in the statement accompanying the pardon “stand in tension with the case record.”
"For example, the President asserts that Mr. Biden 'was treated differently' from others 'who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,' implying that Mr. Biden was among those individuals who untimely paid taxes due to addiction. But he is not," the judge wrote.
He noted that Hunter Biden had said he “was severely addicted to alcohol and drugs” through "May 2019.”
"Upon pleading guilty to the charges in this case, Mr. Biden admitted that he engaged in tax evasion after this period of addiction by wrongfully deducting as business expenses items he knew were personal expenses, including luxury clothing, escort services, and his daughter’s law school tuition. And Mr. Biden admitted that he 'had sufficient funds available to him to pay some or all of his outstanding taxes when they were due,' but that he did not make payments toward his tax liabilities even 'well after he had regained his sobriety,' instead electing to 'spen[d] large sums to maintain his lifestyle' in 2020," the judge wrote.
Hunter Biden had argued in both cases that he was the victim of selective prosecution, but those claims were rejected by Scarsi and the judge in the Delaware case, Maryellen Noreika. Both are Trump nominees.
"According to the President, '[n]o reasonable person who looks at the facts of [Mr. Biden’s] cases can reach any other conclusion than [Mr. Biden] was singled out only because he is [the President’s] son.'" Scarsi wrote. "But two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the President. And the President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges. In the President’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people."
David Weiss, the special counsel who brought the cases against Hunter Biden, made a similar point in a court filing earlier this week, noting three appeals court panels had rejected the selective prosecution claims as well.
There has "never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case,” his office's filing said. “In total, eleven (11) different Article III judges appointed by six (6) different presidents, including his father, considered and rejected the defendant’s claims, including his claims for selective and vindictive prosecution.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge's remarks.
The judge in Hunter Biden's tax evasion case is calling out Joe for this pardon.
Joe Biden is just trying to protect him and his family’s crimes.
