The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax evasion trial said Wednesday he will not allow testimony from a witness Biden’s lawyers said was prepared to testify about the root cause of Biden’s drug addiction.
Biden’s lawyers have sought to couch his alleged tax crimes in the context of an addiction that clouded his judgment.
The ruling was one of several in a routine pretrial hearing meant to establish ground rules for the evidence to be presented at trial. It could hurt the defense team’s ability to protect President Biden’s son from conviction, but it won’t erase their strategy.
RELATED STORY | Hunter Biden to be sentenced in federal gun case in November
The lawyer who will try the case in Biden’s defense, Mark Geragos, made clear Wednesday he intends to argue Biden’s decision-making was hindered by his drug use, though Judge Mark Scarsi ruled he could not tell the jury Biden’s addiction was caused by specific traumatic events in his life.
The younger Biden has said the death of his brother Beau, in 2015, launched him into a spiral of drug abuse. Biden’s lawyers have also suggested the early childhood trauma associated with surviving, at the age of 2, a car accident that killed his mother and sister has further contributed to his drug abuse.
Judge Scarsi’s ruling Wednesday prevents President Biden’s lawyers from arguing the events directly caused his addiction.
Biden is accused of evading taxes totaling at least $1.4 million and falsifying some of his tax returns by claiming personal spending as business expenses.
Some of the expenses prosecutors will highlight include spending on what they call an “extravagant” lifestyle punctuated by illegal drugs and payments to women with whom he’s accused of having sexual relationships.
A jury will sit for trial in the case in early September. Lawyers said Wednesday they expect to need eight full days to present evidence and hear testimony. Judge Scarsi said he expects jury selection to take one or two days.
That timeline means Biden, fresh off a conviction on federal gun charges this summer, would hear a jury’s verdict on his alleged tax crimes in late September. He faces sentencing for his gun crimes in November.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 5.
RELATED STORY | President Biden reiterates he won’t pardon his son Hunter for gun crimes
