A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of Hunter Biden search warrants that took place back in 2019 and 2020.
The request to unseal them came from an independent journalist but apparently wasn’t opposed by Special Counsel Daivd Weiss or Hunter Biden’s team.
Here’s more from Fox News:
The judge overseeing the federal weapons cases against the president’s son, Hunter Biden, has ordered that search warrants used in two investigations of the embattled first son must be made public.
Delaware District Judge Maryellen Norieka granted a request Friday to unseal four search warrants used in special counsel David Weiss’ investigation of unlawful firearm possession and tax fraud cases against the younger Biden, the New York Post reported.
The warrants are likely to shed light on the feds’ legal basis for seizing Biden’s electronic devices, as well as the evidence used to build the two criminal cases against him, the outlet said.
The warrants were referenced in court papers earlier this month by Weiss’ office as it argued against Hunter’s bid to throw out the charges – prompting an independent journalist, Marcy Wheeler, to seek their unsealing.
Neither Biden’s defense team nor Weiss’ office objected to the records being unsealed. It is not immediately clear when the documents will be accessible, the Post reported.
Two warrants date from Aug. 29, 2019, and July 10, 2020, and were obtained by tax authorities and the FBI to look into Hunter Biden’s Apple iCloud account. A third search warrant was obtained on Dec. 13, 2019, to examine the first son’s now-infamous laptop.
The fourth warrant was obtained Dec. 4 last year and used to collect electronic evidence in connection with the gun case – nearly three months after the indictment against the first son was unsealed.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to three federal gun charges brought by Weiss. The president’s son has been charged with lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days. He could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
I’m not sure why they were sealed in the first place and I don’t know if we’ll learn anything significant.