Hunter Biden agreed to a schedule with Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors which would have his trial over three federal gun charges begin after January 2024, according to a Friday court filing.
Abbe D. Lowell, Hunter Biden’s lead defense counsel, said that Biden’s legal team “conferred” with DOJ prosecutors, according to the court filing. They discussed a proposal to tweak the briefing schedule for pretrial motions submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, the records show. (RELATED: Most Americans Think Joe Biden Did Something Illegal Or Unethical In Hunter Biden’s Foreign Business Dealings: POLL)
READ THE COURT FILING:
“The parties in the above-captioned case have conferred, and respectfully submit the following proposed modified briefing schedule for all pretrial motions,” the document reads. Under the revised schedule, “: (a) the defendant’s pretrial motions to be filed by December 11, 2023; (b) the government’s oppositions/responses to be filed by January 16, 2024; and (c) the defendant’s replies to be filed by January 30, 2024.”
“The government has consented to this briefing schedule,” the document adds. Judge Maryellen Noreika, the federal judge overseeing the case, must approve the amended schedule before it is finalized. A trial date for Hunter Biden’s gun charges has not been set.
Hunter Biden was indicted Sept. 14 with three federal gun charges in connection with his purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver in Delaware while he allegedly suffered from a crack cocaine addiction. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for the felony gun charges.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the gun charges at an Oct. 3 arraignment. He will seek to have the indictment dismissed based on the terms of the pretrial diversion agreement from his failed guilty plea deal over one felony gun charge and two tax misdemeanor charges. Noreika agreed to dismiss the single gun charge in the wake of the indictment.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys plan on using the Second Amendment to defend their client and reportedly threatened to bring President Joe Biden as a trial witness in prior negotiations.
DOJ Special Counsel David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, continues to investigate Hunter Biden’s taxes in a probe marred by allegations of special treatment from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.
The Ways and Means Committee released a trove of documents in late September substantiating the accusations made by the IRS whistleblowers in congressional testimony.
Weiss has not filed any additional tax charges against Biden as of the time of publication.