(NewsNation) — Hunter Biden filed motions Monday to dismiss gun charges against him in a federal court in Delaware.
Attorneys for the president’s son argued in three filings the indictment against Hunter Biden should be thrown out because special counsel David Weiss was “unlawfully appointed,” prosecutors failed to charge a constitutionally permissible offense, and it violates a diversion agreement in place.
Weiss started investigating Hunter Biden in 2018 over accusations he cheated on his taxes and illegally purchased a gun. The Department of Justice appointed Weiss as federal special counsel in August.
Monday, Biden’s attorneys said Weiss, while working as special counsel on the case, has continued to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware. Biden’s legal team insists the appointment violates the Department of Justice’s own regulations for special counsel qualifications that state, “The special counsel shall be selected outside the United States government.”
In the same filing, Biden’s team also says the funding for the investigation has not been approved by Congress, which violates the Appropriations Clause.
Back in September, Weiss handed down the first indictment against Biden, which alleged he lied on a firearm purchasing form that he was not using drugs at the time. Prosecutors say because Biden lied on the form, he illegally possessed the gun. Biden entered a not guilty plea to those charges.
In one of the court filings Monday, Biden’s attorneys said the statute the indictment is based on was recently struck down in another case as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
Earlier this year, a plea deal was reached where Biden agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge in exchange for the gun charges to be dropped. The agreement, which would have given Biden two years probation, fell through.
Biden’s legal team argues its client gave up some of his rights, including his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, in exchange for immunity on charges related to the purchase of a firearm. But three felony firearm offenses were brought against Biden anyway.
“Because Mr. Biden gave up valuable rights as part of this contract, in exchange for the prosecution’s promise not to prosecute him, ‘such promise must be fulfilled,’” one of Monday’s filings reads.
The motions to dismiss come as Weiss recently filed a second set of charges against Biden last week. The nine charges against Biden claim he engaged in a yearslong scheme not to pay at least $1.4 million in owed taxes. That set of charges is based in California.
The Hill contributed to this report.