WILMINGTON, Del. Hunter Biden’s lawyers are scheduled to appear in court Friday for the final hearing before the president’s son faces trial on federal firearms charges in Delaware, as his father’s re-election campaign unfolds.
Hunter Biden is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on an application to buy a gun he kept for about 11 days in Delaware. He acknowledged being addicted to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers said he did not break the law and that the case was politically motivated.
The two sides have argued in court documents over evidence in the case, including the contents of a laptop he allegedly left at a repair shop in Delaware. Defense lawyers question the authenticity of the laptop data in court documents, but prosecutors say there is no evidence the data was compromised and that a prolonged fight over it at trial would be a waste of time. The laptop has been a source of controversy for years after Republicans accessed and released personal data from it.
Prosecutors also plan to show jurors portions of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he detailed his struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse following the 2015 death of his older brother Beau, who Succumbed to brain cancer at age 46.
Defense attorneys argue that prosecutors are cherry-picking evidence from the book and also want to include more of the information they chose.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika will preside over what is expected to be the last hearing before the trial, which is expected to begin with jury selection on June 3.
Hunter Biden also faces federal tax charges in Los Angeles and will go to trial in that case in September. He is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years while living an “extravagant lifestyle” during a period in which he acknowledged struggling with addiction. The back taxes have already been paid.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers unsuccessfully lobbied in both cases for them to be fired. They argued, among other things, that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to indict him after a plea deal failed in court and was publicly derided by Republicans, including Trump, as a “sweetheart deal.”
Trump, who is running to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden, faces legal problems of his own. He is accused of four criminal cases, including a secret trial underway in New York.
The long-running federal investigation into the president’s son appeared poised to conclude with a plea deal last year, but the deal imploded after a judge raised questions about the matter. Hunter Biden was later indicted.
Under the deal, he would have gotten two years of probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges. He also would have avoided prosecution on the gun charge if he had stayed out of trouble.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of Hunter Biden at
