WASHINGTON — The special counsel appointed to oversee the federal investigation into Hunter Biden intends to seek a grand jury indictment of the president’s son before the end of September, the special counsel’s office said Wednesday in a court filing.
“The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest. The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
The filing was made in the criminal action tied to a pretrial agreement with the government over the possession of a gun while someone is using narcotics.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Asked for comment, the White House referred NBC News to Hunter Biden’s personal representatives.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss, based in Delaware, was appointed in August by Attorney General Merrick Garland as special counsel to oversee the Hunter Biden case. Weiss was already in charge of the investigation but had requested that he be elevated to special counsel. Former President Donald Trump nominated Weiss in 2017 and he was confirmed by the Senate in 2018.
Weiss was named special counsel on Aug. 11, shortly before prosecutors from his office said that negotiations over the tax and gun charges against Hunter Biden had collapsed. They said that the case would likely have to go to trial in California or Washington, D.C. Later that day, prosecutors suggested that they might bring different charges against the president’s son in the new case.
Hunter Biden had originally agreed earlier this year to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges over his failure to pay income taxes. But the agreement suddenly fell apart as he was about to enter the guilty plea in court because of confusion over a separate charge involving a firearm.
The president’s son then entered a plea of not guilty instead, with the understanding that the situation needed to be hammered out by the government and his attorneys.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
