Current:Home > BackSpecial counsel intends to bring indictment against Hunter Biden by month's end-LoTradeCoin
Special counsel intends to bring indictment against Hunter Biden by month's end
View Date:2024-12-23 21:24:46
Special counsel David Weiss intends to bring an indictment against President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden by the end of this month, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The development comes a month after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel in his investigation of the younger Biden, after a plea deal struck between Hunter Biden and federal prosecutors fell apart and the case appeared headed for trial.
As part of the plea deal, Hunter Biden had originally agreed to acknowledge his failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. In exchange, prosecutors would have recommended probation, meaning he would likely have avoided prison time.
The younger Biden also would have agreed to a pretrial diversion on a separate gun charge, with the charge being dropped if he adhered to certain terms.
The special counsel's intended indictment pertains to the felony gun charge that was previously brought under the pretrial diversion agreement brokered by the two parties, according to the filing. Since the agreement fell apart under questioning from a federal district judge, the two parties have squabbled in court filings over whether the diversion agreement on the gun charge took effect.
"The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest," prosecutors wrote Wednesday. "The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date."
Attorneys for the president's son, however, have argued that the diversion agreement took effect on July 26, when prosecutors signed the document.
MORE: New details emerge in Hunter Biden plea agreement
"Mr. Biden has been following and will continue to follow the conditions of that Agreement, which the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed and signed and informed the Court on July 20, 2023 that the Probation Office had agreed to and had recommended be put into effect," Hunter Biden's lawyers wrote in their own court filing following the special counsel's filing.
Weiss' team has argued that in order for the document to be ratified, it would require the signature of a probation officer -- which they say did not happen.
Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, subsequently issued a statement Wednesday saying, "We believe the signed and filed diversion agreement remains valid and prevents any additional charges from being filed against Mr. Biden, who has been abiding by the conditions of release under that agreement for the last several weeks, including regular visits by the probation office."
The special counsel has previously signaled his intention to bring separate tax charges in California or Washington, D.C., but prosecutors have not said when those charges might be filed.
veryGood! (6787)
Related
- Biden, Harris participate in Veterans Day ceremony | The Excerpt
- Community Solar Is About to Get a Surge in Federal Funding. So What Is Community Solar?
- Why Kristin Davis Really Can't Relate to Charlotte York
- Pennsylvania Advocates Issue Intent to Sue Shell’s New Petrochemical Plant Outside Pittsburgh for Emissions Violations
- College football top five gets overhaul as Georgia, Miami both tumble in US LBM Coaches Poll
- 2023 ESPYS Winners: See the Complete List
- In the Amazon, Indigenous and Locally Controlled Land Stores Carbon, but the Rest of the Rainforest Emits Greenhouse Gases
- ‘Green Hydrogen’ Would Squander Renewable Energy Resources in Massachusetts
- Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for $35M
- Derailed Train in Ohio Carried Chemical Used to Make PVC, ‘the Worst’ of the Plastics
Ranking
- Duke basketball vs Kentucky live updates: Highlights, scores, updates from Champions Classic
- Minnesota Is Poised to Pass an Ambitious 100 Percent Clean Energy Bill. Now About Those Incinerators…
- As Enforcement Falls Short, Many Worry That Companies Are Flouting New Mexico’s Landmark Gas Flaring Rules
- OutDaughtered’s Danielle and Adam Busby Detail Her Alarming Battle With Autoimmune Disease
- QTM Community Introduce
- New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing Later
- Amazon Prime Day 2023 Deal: Get the Keurig Mini With 67,900+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews for Just $60
- Why It’s Time to Officially Get Over Your EV Range Anxiety
Recommendation
-
Seattle man faces 5 assault charges in random sidewalk stabbings
-
Apple iPhone from 2007 sells for more than $190,000 at auction
-
Make Your Life Easier With 25 Problem-Solving Products on Sale For Less Than $21 on Prime Day 2023
-
New Mexico State Soccer Player Thalia Chaverria Found Dead at 20
-
Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
-
Texas Environmentalists Look to EPA for Action on Methane, Saying State Agencies Have ‘Failed Us’
-
Imagining a World Without Fossil Fuels
-
Restoring Watersheds, and Hope, After New Mexico’s Record-Breaking Wildfires