Hunter Biden's longshot bid to dismiss his federal tax charges fell flat in court on Wednesday as the judge said there was "no evidence" that politics tainted the prosecution. 

The president's son has claimed that he is the target of a political witch hunt by the Justice Department. But a judge in California, Mark Scarsi, seemed unconvinced as Biden's lawyer urged him to "connect the dots."

Hunter Biden is facing up to 17 years in prison for tax evasion on $1.4 million in foreign income.

Hunter faces skeptical judge

Hunter's lawyers have made an aggressive push to dismiss the charges, claiming he is the target of a selective prosecution.

The claim rests largely on the prosecution timeline.

Hunter was set to receive a generous plea deal last year, but it fell apart and he was later charged with felony tax crimes. He was also charged with lying about his drug abuse to purchase a gun.

The escalation in legal pressure came as IRS whistleblowers publicly alleged that the DOJ was going easy on Hunter.

At Wednesday's hearing, Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell told the judge to focus on the "juicy timeline." But the judge said there was no solid evidence of outside pressure.

"There really is no evidence. You cite to things on the internet," the judge said.

Witch hunt?

Hunter's rhetoric about being the target of a witch hunt has led to comparisons with Donald Trump, but the parallels only go so far.

For one thing, Trump is being prosecuted by the Justice Department of a political opponent, so his claims are far from outlandish.

It's another thing for the son of the president to claim he's being singled out by the DOJ.

Far from it, many would argue Hunter is still getting off pretty easy. For example, Hunter has not been charged with illegal foreign lobbying or money laundering, despite credible evidence of those crimes.

Given the timeline, it isn't unreasonable to speculate that the DOJ charged Hunter in response to the public uproar about the apparently special treatment he was receiving.

But that isn't the scandal his lawyers say it is. The real scandal is that it took so much pressure for him to be charged at all.

The judge in his tax case will rule before April 17 on whether to dismiss the charges. If he does not, the trial will start on June 20th.