The presiding judge in Hunter Biden’s tax fraud case said he would accept his father’s pardon but blasted President Joe Biden for trying to “rewrite history” in his reasoning.
Both cases against Hunter – the June conviction of lying on a federal government form to purchase a firearm and also possessing the firearm while abusing drugs, as well as the September guilty plea to tax fraud – are being dismissed by the ruling judges closed.
Los Angeles District Judge Mark Scarsi indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received a thrilling order of five pages.
Scarsi, however, blasted several aspects of the pardon and was critical of the president’s claim that his son was singled out for political reasons. He said two judges had rejected similar arguments from his lawyers.
“The President’s Attorney General and Department of Justice staff oversaw the investigation that led to the indictment,” wrote Scarsi, who was appointed by Donald Trump.
Scarsi wrote that Biden’s pardon can only mean that “in the President’s opinion, this legion of federal officials … are unreasonable people.”
The Justice Department’s special counsel, in turn, opposed dismissing the case filed in California after Hunter Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes.
Scarsi also suggested that the pardon could be unconstitutional due to the specific dating of January 1, 2014, which some believe would protect Hunter’s actions on behalf of Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
District Judge Mark Scarsi, the presiding judge in Hunter Biden’s tax fraud case, said he would close the case but blasted the president’s statement suggesting the prosecutor was out to get his son and lying about Hunter’s sobriety .
Los Angeles District Judge Mark Scarsi indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received in a blistering five-page order
The judge argued that the data ultimately “exceeds the scope of the pardon power.”
He blasted the president for exposing the truth about Hunter’s sobriety, arguing that some of these crimes occurred after the First Son claimed he had gotten sober.
‘A press release is not a pardon. The Constitution gives the President broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for crimes against the United States… but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the power to rewrite history,” Scarsi wrote.
In September, Scarsi accepted Biden’s guilty plea to the three felonies and six misdemeanors with which he was charged.
However, the judge intends to consider the pardon as valid and will close the case once he officially receives it.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika also officially closed the gun case against Hunter on Tuesday after Joe Biden granted a sweeping pardon to his son, against the wishes of prosecutors from Biden’s own Justice Department.
The gun case Noreika was in charge of was closed the week before Hunter was to be sentenced.
Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies after lying on a federal form to buy a gun in Delaware by saying he was not a drug user in 2018, a period during which he admitted to addiction.
Hunter was convicted in June of lying on a federal government form to purchase a gun and also of possessing the firearm while on drugs, and pleaded guilty in September to the three felonies and six misdemeanors he charged was accused of tax fraud.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika also officially closed the gun case against Hunter on Tuesday after Joe Biden granted a sweeping pardon for his son, against the wishes of prosecutors from Biden’s own Justice Department.
He faced a prison sentence of 25 years on the weapons charges and 17 years on the tax charges, although it was likely he would have served far less than under federal sentencing guidelines.
Prosecutors opposed the dismissal of the gun case, arguing in court documents that a pardon should not wipe away the case “as if it never happened.”
Now it is guaranteed that Hunter will not spend a day in jail for these crimes.
Another aspect of the controversy is Biden’s complete reversal on granting a reprieve to his son.
Biden said as recently as June that he would “not pardon” his son, unlike Trump, who has said bluntly that he would pardon the January 6 rioters.
The White House has also repeatedly denied that a pardon would be forthcoming.
Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s press secretary, has come under fire from reporters aboard Air Force One since she said several weeks ago that a pardon or clemency for Hunter was out of the question.
Scarsi blasted the president for spreading the truth about Hunter’s sobriety, arguing that some of these crimes occurred after the First Son claimed he had become sober.
In September, Scarsi accepted Biden’s guilty plea to the three felonies and six misdemeanors with which he was charged
Jean-Pierre insisted the president was a truthful man who only came to his decision over the weekend, as he said in his Sunday statement.
“First of all, one of the things the president has always believed in is being fair to the American people,” she said. “That’s something he always really believes in.”
Trump’s immediate response to Biden’s shock move was to suggest he might pardon the remaining people convicted of rioting at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“Does Joe’s pardon to Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have been held captive for years now? What an abuse and miscarriage of justice!’ Trump wrote.
Even other prominent members of Biden’s own party criticized him, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis.