LOS ANGELES — An attorney for Hunter Biden accused prosecutors Wednesday of wanting to introduce salacious details about partying and spending by President Joe Biden’s son to smear his character in front of jurors at his upcoming trial on federal tax charges.
During a lengthy hearing in Los Angeles federal court, Hunter Biden’s lawyer said special counsel David Weiss’ team was intent on “character assassination” by seeking to introduce evidence in the case alleging Hunter Biden failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
“They want to slime him because that is the whole purpose,” attorney Mark Geragos told U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi.
Geragos’ comments came as the defense and prosecution sparred for hours over what evidence and testimony jurors should be allowed to hear when the trial begins early next month. It’s the second criminal trial in just months for the president’s son, who was convicted in June of three felony charges in a separate federal case over the purchase of a gun in 2018.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have indicated they will argue he didn’t act “willfully,” or with the intention to break the law. Pointing to Hunter Biden’s well-documented addiction struggles during those years, they’ve argued his drug and alcohol abuse impacted “his decision-making and judgment, such that Mr. Biden was unable to form the requisite intent to commit the crimes he has been charged with.”
Prosecutor Leo Wise said evidence of things like Hunter Biden’s payments to a pornographic website would help jurors evaluate whether he accidentally or intentionally listed those items as business expenses when they clearly were not. Wise noted that Hunter included descriptions of wild partying in California in his own memoir.
“He describes partying in hotels with a cast of strippers,” Wise said. “He chose to pay them, which is fine - it’s America, you can do that. But then he chose to take it as a business deduction.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyers had wanted to present testimony about the death of his brother Beau in 2015 and the loss of his mother and sister when he was a child. The defense argued it was important to delve into those issues to provide context about his drug use during the years he was accused of failing to pay his taxes.
“They are painting a portrait for the jury of someone who is just plopped down in West Hollywood and decided to just party,” Geragos said.
But the judge ruled out testimony on the car accident that killed Biden’s mother and sister, and any testimony attributing the cause of addiction to the death of his brother.
Hunter Biden was supposed to plead guilty last year to misdemeanor tax offenses in a deal with prosecutors that would have allowed him to avoid prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble. However, the plea deal fell apart after a Delaware federal judge raised concerns about it, and he was subsequently indicted in the two cases.
• Richer reported from Washington.
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