WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, asked federal judges on Thursday to dismiss tax and gun cases against him, citing a ruling in Florida this week that threw out a separate prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The requests in federal court in Delaware and California underscore the potential ramifications of US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal Monday of the classified documents case against Trump and the possibility that it could unsettle the legal landscape surrounding Justice Department special counsels.
Both Hunter Biden and Trump were prosecuted by special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. In dismissing the Trump case, Cannon ruled that the appointment of the special counsel who prosecuted Trump, Jack Smith, violated the Constitution because he was appointed directly to the position by Garland instead of being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Smith’s team has said the Justice Department followed long-establishment precedent — for instance, the Trump-era appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election interference was upheld by courts — and has appealed Cannon’s dismissal to a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
In a pair of filings Thursday, lawyers for Hunter Biden said the same logic should apply in his cases and should result in the dismissal of a pending tax prosecution in Los Angeles — currently set for trial in September — and a separate firearm case in Delaware, in which Hunter Biden was convicted in June of three felony charges.
Hunter Biden’s team had raised similar arguments before, unsuccessfully, but they say there’s now good reason to reconsider them. Both of Hunter Biden’s cases are being overseen by judges nominated by Trump. Cannon, the judge who threw out Trump’s case, was also nominated by the former Republican president.
“Based on these new legal developments, Mr. Biden moves to dismiss the indictment brought against him because the Special Counsel who initiated this prosecution was appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause as well,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote. They also cited an opinion this month by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that questioned the propriety of a special counsel appointment.
“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” the lawyers added.
Smith and the special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden, David Weiss, are different in that Smith was hired from outside the Justice Department while Weiss was working as the US Attorney in Delaware at the time of his appointment.
A spokesperson for Weiss said they are aware of the filings from Hunter Biden’s legal team and “will respond in due course.”
In her ruling, Cannon noted that a special counsel’s powers are “arguably broader than a traditional United States Attorney, as he is permitted to exercise his investigatory powers across multiple districts within the same investigation.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyers pointed out Thursday that that’s exactly what happened in his case, as Weiss in his role as special counsel filed cases against Biden in California and Delaware and separately brought charges against a former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens.
“Mere US Attorneys do not have that power. Given that Congress requires a US Attorney to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, it makes no sense to assume that Congress would allow the Attorney General to unilaterally appoint someone as Special Counsel with equal or greater power than a US Attorney,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote. “That is what has been attempted here.”
Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty in June of lying about his drug use in 2018 on a federal form to buy a firearm that he had for about 11 days. The trial put a spotlight on a dark period in Hunter Biden’s life during which he became addicted to crack cocaine after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. He has said he’s been sober since 2019.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the gun case by US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there’s no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She has not set a sentencing date.
The tax case centers on at least $1.4 million in taxes prosecutors say he failed to pay over four years. The back taxes have since been paid.
The long-running federal investigation into the president’s son had looked ready to wrap up with a plea deal last year, but the agreement imploded after a judge raised questions about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted in both cases.
Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of tax, gun cases, citing decision to toss Trump’s classified docs case
https://arab.news/4s4xz
Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of tax, gun cases, citing decision to toss Trump’s classified docs case
- Biden's lawyers are now saying that like in Trump's case, Biden was also prosecuted by a special counsel appointed by the US attorney general, and should therefore be dismissed
- A district judge on Monday dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, ruling that the appointment of a special counsel who prosecuted Trump was not valid
Disaster losses drop in 2025, picture still ‘alarming’: Munich Re
- Costliest disaster came in the form of the Los Angeles wildfires in January, with total losses of $53bn
FRANKFURT: Natural disaster losses worldwide dropped sharply to $224 billion in 2025, reinsurer Munich Re said Tuesday, but warned of a still “alarming” picture of extreme weather events likely driven by climate change.
The figure was down nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, in part because no hurricane struck the US mainland for the first time in several years.
Nevertheless, “the big picture was alarming with regard to floods, severe ... storms and wildfires in 2025,” said Munich Re, a Germany-based provider of insurance for the insurance industry.
HIGHLIGHT
Around 17,200 lives were lost in natural disasters worldwide, significantly higher than about 11,000 in 2024, but below the 10-year average of of 17,800.
The costliest disaster of the year came in the form of Los Angeles wildfires in January, with total losses of $53 billion and insured losses of around $40 billion, Munich Re said in its annual disaster report.
It was striking how many extreme events were likely influenced by climate change in 2025 and it was just chance that the world was spared potentially higher losses, according to the group.
“The planet has a fever, and as a result we are seeing a cluster of severe and intense weather events,” Tobias Grimm, Munich Re’s chief climate scientist, told AFP.
Last month Swiss Re, another top player in the reinsurance industry, also reported a hefty drop for 2025, putting total losses at $220 billion.
According to Munich Re’s report, insured losses for 2025 came in at $108 billion, also sharply down on last year.
Around 17,200 lives were lost in natural disasters worldwide, significantly higher than about 11,000 in 2024, but below the 10-year average of of 17,800, it said.
Grimm said 2025 was a year with “two faces.”
“The first half of the year was the costliest loss period the insurance industry has ever experienced,” he said — but the second half saw the lowest losses in a decade.
It is now the cumulative costs of smaller-scale disasters — like local floods and forest fires — that are having the greatest impact.
Losses from these events amounted to $166 billion last year, according to Munich Re.
After the LA wildfires, the costliest disaster of the year was a devastating earthquake that hit Myanmar in March, which is estimated to have caused $12 billion in losses, only a small share of which was insured.
Tropical cyclones caused around $37 billion in losses.
Jamaica was battered by Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall, generating losses of around $9.8 billion.
By region, the US’ total losses amounted to $118 billion, $88 billion of which was insured — around the same as an estimate of $115 billion total losses from US nonprofit Climate Central.
The Asia-Pacific region had losses of about $73 billion — but only $9 billion was insured, according to the report.
Australia had its second most expensive year in terms of overall losses from natural disasters since 1980 due to a series of severe storms and flooding.
Europe saw losses of $11 billion. Natural disasters in Africa led to losses of $3 billion, less than a fifth of which was insured.
The report comes at a time when skepticism toward green policies is growing, particularly since the return to power of US President Donald Trump, who derides climate science as a “hoax.”
But Grimm warned that the Earth “continues to warm.”
“More heat means more humidity, stronger rainfall, and higher wind speeds — climate change is already contributing to extreme weather,” he said.
