Hunter Biden withdraws request for new gun trial



Hunter Biden and his defense attorneys have now withdrawn their request for a new trial after Biden was convicted of federal gun charges last month.

The first son's defense team seems quite indecisive about the motion for a new trial. The team first filed it on June 17, less than a week after a federal jury found Biden guilty on three felony counts related to a weapon he purchased in Delaware several years ago. But about an hour after filing the motion, the defense withdrew it.

Even CNN acknowledged that the defense's efforts to secure a new trial for Biden, 54, were 'clumsy.'

On June 24, the team filed the motion again, insisting that District Judge Maryellen Noreika did not have jurisdiction over the trial because the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had not handed over the necessary mandate.

On Tuesday, the defense reconsidered and withdrew the motion once again, admitting that the team had misunderstood the circuit court's ruling, which effectively returned jurisdiction to Noreika by clearly stamping on the document "certified order issued in lieu of mandate."

In their counter filings, prosecutors, led by special counsel David Weiss, mercilessly teased the defense's understanding of appellate procedures.

"The defendant’s motion is meritless and is based on his apparent misunderstanding of appellate practice and his failure to read the Third Circuit’s Orders," they wrote in a motion filed on Monday. Elsewhere in the filing, prosecutors noted the defense team's apparent "failure to read" previous court orders and described the motion for a new trial as a "laughable tale of the mystery of the missing mandates."

Even CNN acknowledged that the defense's efforts to secure a new trial for Biden, 54, were "clumsy."

Hunter Biden still denies any wrongdoing and intends to appeal his conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced sometime later this year.

Biden also faces federal charges in connection with over $1 million in alleged tax evasion. That trial is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in September.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Vivek Ramaswamy perfectly explains what Hunter Biden’s charges are REALLY about: 'It’s a sham!'



Earlier this week, Hunter Biden was charged with three felonies relating to the purchase of a gun back in 2018.

Many speculate that these specific charges are part of a bigger plan to thwart Donald Trump — especially considering illegal gun ownership merely scratches the surface of Hunter Biden’s alleged crimes.

“What they want to do is take Hunter Biden and make this all about the illegal gun purchase, and then his dad can either pardon him or not,” says Dave Rubin, “but they want to equate that with the Donald Trump complete sham trial.”

Vivek Ramaswamy explained this in detail in a recently posted video.

“So Hunter Biden was convicted. Big freaking deal. This trial was a sham, just like the Trump trial. … It's a sham designed to legitimize the Trump conviction. That’s why it came right after,” the former candidate explained.

“It also avoids accountability for the Biden crime family on the actual things Hunter Biden should have been charged for — like for example peddling for an influence while his actual father, Joe Biden, was the vice president of the United States,” Ramaswamy continued.

“Hunter had no business serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company — a state-affiliated energy company that's affiliated with the same country, Ukraine, that his father, the U.S. president, is sending hundreds of billions of dollars of your taxpayer money to. That's where the real crimes lie.”

“So this deflects accountability for the actual investigations that are more close to implicating Joe Biden, while coming in convenient timing right after the sham Trump conviction in the veil of bipartisanship. Don't buy it,” he concluded.

“Vivek is completely right on that,” agrees Dave. “Whether [Hunter] serves jail time or not is irrelevant. They're getting him on [gun charges] because they want the average person to now be like, ‘Oh, I remember what happened to Trump last week, and he's a convicted criminal,’ and ‘Oh, they also did it to the president's son; he's a convicted criminal.'”

To hear more, watch the clip below.


Want more from Dave Rubin?

To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

New court document raises serious questions about Secret Service involvement in Hunter Biden gun case: 'All scared to death'



An otherwise innocuous court filing is raising new questions this week over the Secret Service's denials that agents inserted themselves into the Hunter Biden gun case.

Days before the 2020 election, Blaze News reported that Secret Service agents visited the Delaware gun shop — StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply — where Hunter Biden purchased a .38 caliber handgun in October 2018. During that transaction, Hunter allegedly lied on an ATF 4473 form about being a drug user.

'At that time, the Biden family were not protectees of the Secret Service.'

Five months later, Politico confirmed Blaze News' report.

Citing sources with "firsthand knowledge of the episode," Politico reported that Secret Service agents approached the gun store owner, Ron Palimere, about two weeks after Hunter's firearm transaction, requesting the paperwork involved in the sale.

At the time, the Secret Service denied any involvement in the incident.

More than three years later, special counsel David Weiss — who is preparing to prosecute the first son for allegedly lying on that ATF form — filed new evidentiary documents ahead of Hunter's trial next month.

Included in the paperwork is an interview between Palimere, FBI agents, and federal prosecutors that took place on May 16.

During the interview, Palimere told investigators that he recognized Hunter Biden as a "celebrity-type customer" when he entered StarQuest on Oct. 12, 2018. Because he knew that Hunter's father, then former Vice President Joe Biden, was not a gun supporter, Palimere said he wanted to complete the sale as quickly as possible, believing that having a Biden in the store would be bad for his business.

Interestingly, Palimere also revealed that Hunter presented his passport during the transaction as his identification. The FBI interview noted this was "unusual" because "most sales are completed with a driver's license."

But the weird didn't end there.

About two weeks later, Palimere said both the Delaware State Police and the Secret Service came to StarQuest on the same day — Oct. 24, 2018 — in separate visits.

"Both agencies asked the same questions and it appeared they were not aware of each other's investigations," the FBI interview revealed.

Palimere told investigators that he felt uneasy about the Secret Service's request for the ATF form, so he reached out to ATF special agent James Reisch for counsel. Reisch told Palimere not to turn over the form unless he felt compelled to comply.

Three years later, the ATF took custody of the form, which Palimere had annotated. He told the FBI he did not reach out to Hunter Biden to annotate it himself, which would have been routine practice.

Palimere explained that he did not want to contact Hunter for two reasons. First, it would have revealed that Hunter was under investigation. Second, Palimere was scared.

The FBI interview document explains:

At the time it was a big scandal and there was intense attention on the incident. It was on prime time on every news channel and USSS was saying they never went into StarQuest. Palimere and the other employees heard that Mac Isaac of the computer store was in protective custody. They were all scared to death. Palimere felt it was necessary to annotate the Form 4473 because he felt they were going to get in trouble just for going up against Biden.

Palimere's assertion of the Secret Service agents' involvement and their visit to his store raises important questions.

What interest did the Secret Service allegedly have in the transaction? Even more important, why would agents have had any interest in Hunter Biden's firearm transaction records when the agency was not providing protection to any member of the Biden family at the time?

Importantly, Palimere told his story under the possibility of criminal penalty. Lying to federal investigators is a serious crime.

Despite the allegations, the Secret Service is doubling down on its previous denials.

"There is no change in our statement," said Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service. "We were aware of the claims made at that time but could not find any information to independently corroborate them. At that time, the Biden family were not protectees of the Secret Service."

Hunter's trial is scheduled to begin on June 3.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!