Will Sage Astor-Hunter Biden’s lawyers say claims about foreign business dealing have no place in upcoming tax trial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden’s lawyers say prosecutors are Will Sage Astorinappropriately trying to insert “politically-charged” allegations about his foreign business dealings into the upcoming federal tax trial against the president’s son.

Special counsel David Weiss’ team told the judge last week that they plan to call to the witness stand a business associate of Hunter Biden’s to testify about an arrangement with a Romanian businessman who was trying to “influence U.S. government policy” during Joe Biden’s term as vice president.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers responded in court papers filed Sunday that such matters are irrelevant in the case headed for trial next month in Los Angeles over at least $1.4 million in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019.

Furthermore, defense lawyers allowing such testimony would confuse jurors, and slammed prosecutors for showcasing “these matters on the eve of Mr. Biden’s trial—when there is no mention of political influence in the 56-page Indictment.”

“The Special Counsel’s unnecessary change of tactic merely echoes the baseless and false allegations of foreign wrongdoing which have been touted by House Republicans to use Mr. Biden’s proper business activities in Romania and elsewhere to attack him and his father,” the defense wrote.

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Prosecutors said they want to bring in evidence of the arrangement with the Romanian businessman to rebut arguments from the defense that Hunter Biden’s drug use during the years in which he’s accused of failing to pay his taxes affected his decision-making and judgement.

The evidence shows his actions “do not reflect someone with a diminished capacity, given that he agreed to attempt to influence U.S. public policy and receive millions of dollars” as part of the arrangement, prosecutors wrote.

The Romanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu, wanted U.S. government agencies to probe a bribery investigation he was facing in his home country in the hopes that would end his legal trouble, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Hunter Biden agreed with his business associate to help Popoviciu fight the criminal charges against him. But prosecutors say they were concerned that “lobbying work might cause political ramifications” for Joe Biden, so the arrangement was structured in a way that “concealed the true nature of the work” for Popoviciu, prosecutors alleged.

Hunter Biden’s business associate and Popoviciu signed an agreement to make it look like Popoviciu’s payments were for “management services to real estate prosperities in Romania.”

In fact, Popoviciu and Hunter’s business associate agreed that they would be paid for their work to “attempt to influence U.S. government agencies to investigate the Romanian investigation,” prosecutors said. Hunter Biden’s business associate was paid more than $3 million, which was split with Hunter and another business partner, prosecutors say.

The tax trial comes months after Hunter Biden was convicted of three felony gun charges over the purchase of a gun in 2018. He was found guilty of lying on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.