Hunter Biden's Attorneys Argue He's Being Targeted to Help Trump Win

Hunter Biden's attorneys are pushing to have the federal firearms charges against him in Delaware should be dismissed, court documents filed Tuesday show, saying they're politically motivated.

The attorneys argue that their client is being "targeted" because he is the son of Democratic President Joe Biden, the rival of former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, according to the court documents obtained and shared by The Messenger.

Hunter Biden is currently facing three federal gun charges in relation to his lying about his drug use on a federal form to purchase a handgun in October 2018. He kept the gun for 11 days. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty, and his defense team argues that the case is politically motivated.

"Mr. Biden is being targeted because he is the son of a sitting Democratic President and a political rival of former President Trump, who seeks to defeat President Biden in the upcoming presidential election," Hunter Biden's attorneys wrote in the documents.

Newsweek reached out via email on Tuesday night to Hunter Biden's defense team for comment.

While the president's son has admitted to battling a crack cocaine addiction during this period in 2018, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), his defense team noted there wasn't evidence that it was during the period he had the gun.

One of Hunter Biden's lawyers, Abbe Lowell, told CNN's Erin Burnett in September 2023, "At the time that he purchased this gun, I don't think there's evidence that that's when he was suffering."

Lowell has been arguing to have the indictment thrown out, saying previously that "President Trump and his MAGA allies" have forced "the Justice Department to ignore the law and deviate from its policies in cases like this one."

Earlier this month, however, the DOJ argued against a judge dropping the charges against Hunter Biden, saying that an FBI chemist had determined that a white powdery substance found on a pouch in which the president's son used to hold his handgun was cocaine.

In addition to the firearms charges, Hunter Biden is also facing federal tax counts from another DOJ case in which he's accused of evading at least $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. The nine-count indictment includes three felonies and six misdemeanors including failure to file and pay taxes, false tax return and evasion of assessment. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Update 1/30/24, 9 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.