Judge in Tax Evasion Case Threatens To Fine Hunter Biden

The judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax evasion case is threatening to punish the president’s son for dubious statements made by his lawyers in a motion to throw out the indictment against him.

In an order Wednesday, District Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden’s lawyers that they were “misrepresenting the history” of the case and gave them a week to explain why they made those statements before he would impose punishments like a fine.

Special Counsel David Weiss has charged Biden with multiple counts of felony tax evasion for not paying taxes on the millions of dollars he made from overseas entities in Ukraine, China and other countries by trading on his father’s name. In a separate case, also brought by Mr. Weiss, Biden was convicted by a jury of lying about his drug use to buy a gun. He faces sentencing at a date to be determined.

Biden’s attorneys in the tax case said that special counsel David Weiss had “brought no charges” in a probe into Biden when he was serving as a federal prosecutor before he was appointed to his current position.

Judge Scarsi wrote that “These statements, however, are not true” adding that “Mr. Biden’s counsel knows they are not true.”

Mr. Weiss had previously brought two misdemeanor charges against Biden as part of a 2023 plea deal that fell apart before it was finalized after Republicans criticized it as a “sweetheart deal.”

Judge Scarsi said he “has little tolerance for lack of candor” in his courtroom, adding that the “misstatement in the current motion are not trivial.”

Biden’s attorneys made their claims as part of a bid to have the charges against him thrown out, citing a ruling by the judge overseeing President Trump’s documents case finding that the special counsel had been improperly appointed in that case.

Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges of tax evasion against him and his trial is scheduled to begin in September.