Special counsel David Weiss on Monday refuted President Biden's assertion that his son, Hunter Biden, was "selectively and unfairly prosecuted" for federal tax and gun offenses. Weiss argued in a filing with the US District Court for the Central District of California that the judge overseeing Hunter's tax case should not dismiss the indictment against him, despite the president's pardon. "The Government does not challenge that the defendant has been the recipient of an act of mercy. But that does not mean the grand jury's decision to charge him, based on a finding of probable cause, should be wiped away as if it never occurred," Weiss wrote. He further stated that "no court has agreed with the defendant on these baseless claims, and his request to dismiss the indictment finds no support in the law or the practice of this district."

President Biden, 82, pardoned his 54-year-old son on Sunday, arguing that Hunter was "treated differently" by the Justice Department. "From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," Biden wrote in his pardon announcement. He added that "no reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong." Biden also claimed that Weiss' prosecution of Hunter amounted to a "miscarriage of justice."

Weiss noted in his filing that judges in Hunter's California tax case and Delaware gun trial had rejected the "nonsensical" claim that his prosecution was selective. "There was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case," Weiss wrote. He also mentioned that similar baseless accusations were made in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, which were also rejected.

In April, US District Judge Maryellen Noreika dismissed Hunter's bid to dismiss the federal gun charges, stating that his claim of selective prosecution was "belied by the facts." Noreika emphasized that the Executive Branch that charged Hunter was headed by his father, the sitting President, and that the Attorney General, who appointed the Special Counsel, also reported to Hunter's father. She concluded that Hunter's claim that his own father targeted him for being his son was "nonsensical under the facts here."

Hunter pleaded guilty in September to nine counts related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes and was found guilty of three federal gun charges in June. He was scheduled to be sentenced for the gun case on December 12 and for the tax case on December 16.

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