Former President Donald Trump and his legal team used various techniques and, on multiple occasions, created a legal labyrinth in an effort to delay the start of the trials in the cases against him until after the November general election. So far, Trump’s legal team is seeing huge success in their mission as it becomes more evident that the hush-money case, in which Trump was found guilty on all charges on Thursday, would remain the only one with a trial.
Trump found guilty in New York
On Thursday, Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict came after a jury deliberated for less than 12 hours in the unprecedented first criminal trial against a US president, current or former. It marks a perilous political moment for Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican nomination, whose numbers have remained unchanged throughout the trial but could tank at any moment. According to most legal experts, the start of the trials in the remaining three cases is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Changing focus
Now that the hush-money trial is over and trials in the other cases are unlikely to start, the presumptive Republican nominee can finally focus on the presidential campaign. It remains unknown how Trump’s guilty verdict will impact polling numbers in the months leading up to the elections, as users on social media, mostly Republicans, believe that the latest development could backfire and negatively impact President Joe Biden too. Meanwhile, Biden’s team also has to worry about Biden’s son, Hunter, who is facing two lawsuits in two different states.
One case delayed
A scheduled hearing in the tax case involving Hunter Biden has been postponed indefinitely after it was confirmed that the trial would be delayed. California federal Judge Marc Scarsi confirmed that the motions hearings, originally scheduled for Wednesday this week in California, are delayed, according to initial reports by Josh Gerstein. Hunter Biden has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of not paying $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. Previously, Judge Scarsi had postponed the trial from its original date of June 20 to September 5.
Hunter Biden’s legal team employed a strategy similar to that used by Donald Trump and his attorneys in the Florida case involving classified documents. Trump’s attorneys repeatedly requested delays in hearings and the trial, pointing to ongoing legal proceedings in New York. Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing Trump’s Florida case, faced significant scrutiny for her decisions before she ultimately postponed the case without setting a new date.
Before California federal Judge Marc Scarsi handed Hunter Biden the win earlier this week, Biden’s attorneys successfully argued for a delay in the tax case, citing the need for additional time to prepare for another trial on gun charges that Hunter Biden faces in Delaware on June 3.
The request
In their request for the tax trial to be delayed, Biden’s lawyers said there is “clear prejudice of having to prepare for two bicoastal criminal trials at one time,” while also suggesting they are struggling to prepare fully for the trial in California.
“For example, finding qualified expert witnesses willing to address the complex tax issues involved in the case has been difficult. These difficulties, coupled with the ongoing appellate litigation and Delaware trial preparation, have impeded counsel’s efforts to provide competent and effective counsel to Mr. Biden—and not for want of working as hard as possible,” Biden’s lawyers wrote as reported by Newsweek.
Hunter Biden’s urgent appeal to dismiss his gun charges, based on Second Amendment arguments, was denied. Biden has declared himself not guilty of the charges, which accuse him of illegally purchasing a gun while under the influence of drugs, specifically crack cocaine. He is also charged with falsifying a government form about his drug use at the time of the purchase in May 2018.
