Judge in Hunter Biden tax case blasts Joe for 'rewriting history' as he slams son's pardon

• e-mail

The presiding judge in Hunter Biden's tax fraud case said he would accept the pardon issued by his father but slammed President Joe Biden for trying to 'rewrite history' in his reasoning.

Both cases against Hunter - the conviction in June of lying on a federal government form to buy a gun and also possessing the firearm while abusing drugs, as well as the tax fraud guilty plea in September - are being closed out by the ruling judges. 

District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received in a blistering five-page order. 

Scarsi savaged multiple aspects of the pardon, however, and was critical of the president's assertion that his son was singled out for political reasons, saying two judges had rejected similar arguments from his defense attorneys.

'The president's own attorney general and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges,' wrote Scarsi, who was appointed by Donald Trump. 

Scarsi wrote that Biden's pardon can only mean that 'in the President's estimation, this legion of federal civil servants... are unreasonable people.' 

The Justice Department special counsel, for its part, was opposed to dismissing the case filed in California after Hunter Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes. 

Scarsi also suggested that the pardon may be unconstitutional because of its specific dating back to January 1, 2014, which some have theorized may be to protect Hunter's actions on behalf of Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

District Judge Mark Scarsi, the presiding judge in Hunter Biden's tax fraud case, said he would close out the matter but slammed the president's statement suggesting the prosecution was out to get his son and for lying about Hunter's sobriety

District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received in a blistering five-page order

The judge argued that the dates end up 'exceeding the scope of the pardon power.' 

He slammed the president for stretching the truth about Hunter's sobriety, arguing some of these crimes happened after the First Son claimed he got sober. 

'A press release is not a pardon. The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States... but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history,' Scarsi wrote. 

In September, Scarsi accepted Biden's guilty plea to the three felonies and six misdemeanors he was charged with.  

However, the judge plans to treat the pardon as valid and will end the case once he officially receives it. 

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika also officially closed the gun case against Hunter on Tuesday after Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son, against the wishes of prosecutors from Biden's own Department of Justice.

The gun case Noreika presided over was shut down the week before Hunter was to be sentenced. 

Hunter Biden was convicted on three felonies after he lied on a federal form to purchase a gun in Delaware by saying he wasn´t a drug user in 2018, a period when he has acknowledged being addicted.

Hunter was convicted in June of lying on a federal government form to buy a gun and also possessing the firearm while abusing drugs and pled guilty in September to the three felonies and six misdemeanors he was charged with on tax fraud

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika also officially closed the gun case against Hunter on Tuesday after Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son, against the wishes of prosecutors from Biden's own Department of Justice 

He was facing 25 years in prison for the gun charges and 17 years for the tax charges, though it was likely he would have served far less than that based on federal sentencing guidelines.

Prosecutors opposed dismissing the gun case, arguing in court documents that a pardon shouldn't wipe away the case 'as if it never occurred.'

Now it's guaranteed that Hunter won't spend a day in prison for these crimes. 

Another aspect of the controversy is Biden's complete reversal on granting his son a reprieve.

Biden said as recently as June that he would 'not pardon' his son, unlike Trump who has outright said he wants to pardon January 6 rioters.

The White House has also repeatedly denied a pardon was coming. 

Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden's press secretary, was grilled by journalists aboard Air Force One since she said several weeks ago that a pardon or clemency for Hunter was out of the question.

Scarsi slammed the president for stretching the truth about Hunter's sobriety, arguing some of these crimes happened after the First Son claimed he got sober

In September, Scarsi accepted Biden's guilty plea to the three felonies and six misdemeanors he was charged with

Jean-Pierre insisted that the president was a truthful man who only reached his decision at the weekend, as he said in his Sunday statement.

'First of all, one of the things that the president always believes is to be truthful to the American people,' she said. 'That is something that he always truly believes.'

Trump's immediate response to the shock move by Biden was to suggest he may pardon the remaining people who were convicted of rioting at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

'Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!' Trump wrote.

Even other prominent members of Biden's own party criticized him, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis.