How Hunter Biden Faced Jurors on Federal Gun Charges

WASHINGTON (AP) – Son of President Joe Biden was in federal court, prepared to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax violations. The culmination of an extensive investigation, the agreement between Biden Hunter and prosecutors would spare him a politically explosive trial in the middle of his father’s re-election campaign and likely a prison sentence.

But everything fell apart.

Now, Hunter Biden is heading to trial on federal weapons charges in a case brought by his father’s Justice Department, at a time when America’s political and legal world is colliding like never before. Pursued for years by investigations, scrutinized over his troubled personal life and vilified by Republicans, the young Biden now also faces the threat of criminal convictions and spending time behind bars.

The case opening Monday with jury selection in Delaware is not about Hunter Biden’s business dealings, which have been the focus for years. federal investigation and republicans fruitless impeachment inquiry on the Democratic president. It’s about a gun that Hunter Biden had for about 11 days – a .38 caliber Colt Cobra Special. Prosecutors say he purchased it illegally in October 2018 because he falsely swore on a federal form that he was not a drug user. He never fired the gun, according to his lawyers, and it ended up thrown in a trash can.

The trial will not have details about the foreign affairs issues that Republicans took over to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt, but is expected to feature deeply personal and embarrassing testimony about the dark times in the young Biden’s life. And it will likely provide a new political boost to Donald Trump’s allies, who are eager to divert attention from the presumptive The Republican presidential candidate’s own legal problems after he was convicted of 34 crimes at his hush money trial.

Joe Biden’s allies are worried about the impact the trial could have on the president, who is already worried about the well-being and sobriety of his only living son and who must now watch as that son’s darkest moments are relived. in public. They are also concerned that the trial could become a distraction as the president tries to campaign while facing anemic poll numbers and is scheduled to prepare in Wilmington for a June 27th debate with Trump while the trial takes place nearby.

THE BUSINESS THAT NEVER WAS

At one time, it looked like Hunter Biden would avoid prosecution in the gun case entirely.

The agreement was announced last June. Nearly three years earlier, Hunter Biden had confirmed the federal investigation into his tax affairs in December 2020, shortly after his father’s election.

The younger Biden reportedly pleaded guilty to tax offenses; prosecutors reportedly recommended two years of probation. There was also a “diversion agreement” that would have allowed him to escape the gun charge as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years.

But the confession hearing quickly unraveled.

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, appointed to the position by Trump, questioned both sides about their concerns about the deal. To her, it seemed unusual and required her to become involved in the case in a way that most federal judges do not. The lawyers met, trying to save the agreement. At one point, they could be heard shouting at each other.

“Well, let’s just tear it up!” Chris Clark, then Biden’s lawyer, shouted as tempers flared.

“So what do we do now?” the judge later asked the lawyers.

“Then there is no deal,” prosecutor Leo Wise told him.

A few weeks later, Attorney General Merrick Garland named David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware who was leading the investigation, as special advice.

Hunter Biden was indicted a month after that on three gun counts. They are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, although first-time offenders don’t get anywhere near the maximum and it’s unclear whether the judge would actually give him time behind bars if he were convicted.

COURT TENSION

The bitterness between prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s legal team is glaring. It is likely to be on display on Monday.

Clark withdrew from the case, saying he could be called to testify in a potential legal dispute over the now-defunct agreement. Another defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell, accused Weiss of bowing to political pressure to indict the president’s son after Trump and other Republicans criticized the “sweetheart deal.” The defense noted that charges related to gun possession by drug users are rare when they are not related to a more serious crime.

“Mr. Biden is not being prosecuted for any sin that the DOJ (Department of Justice) believes he committed. He is being punished for the alleged sins of his father – the sin of opposing Mr. Trump’s election as president,” by according to court documents filed by Lowell, who also represented Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the former president’s daughter and son in law.

Prosecutors say Lowell’s claim is “fiction designed for a Hollywood script.”

“Contrary to his assertion, he has not established that the Special Counsel, appointed and serving at the will of President Biden and his Attorney General, is punishing the defendant ‘for the alleged sins of his father’ in order to capitulate to a former President because of his tweets,” Weiss’ team responded.

Weiss said “political considerations” played no role in the investigation. He said legislators behind closed doors last year that no one at the Justice Department stopped him from bringing charges or taking other necessary steps disputing claims of two IRS whistleblowers that the department improperly interfered in the tax investigation.

A DARK TIME

The case stems from a time when, by his own admission, Hunter Biden was addicted to crack.

In your memories “Beautiful Things,” he described being consumed by drugs and alcohol after his older brother, Beau, died in 2015 at age 46 from brain cancer. The brothers were very close, having survived a car accident when they were young that killed their mother and nanny.

Hunter Biden has said he has been sober since 2019. But prosecutors intend to use his memories to argue that he knew he was addicted to drugs when he denied it on the form that every person must fill out when purchasing a gun. They plan to show jurors text messages, videos and photos of Hunter Biden smoking crack cocaine, as well as details about cocaine residue which authorities say was found in the bag he used to store the gun.

“I am a liar, a thief, a guilty party, a user, a delusional person, and an addict, unlike every other addict you know, and I have ruined every relationship I have ever cherished,” wrote Hunter Biden. in a text message weeks after purchasing the firearm, according to prosecutors.

Jurors are expected to hear testimony from his ex-wife and other former romantic partners, including Beau’s widow, Hallie Biden, with whom Hunter Biden had a relationship after his brother’s death. Hallie Biden found the gun in Hunter Biden’s truck and threw it in the trash. It was found by a man collecting recyclable waste and handed it over to the police.

The defense suggested it would attack the credibility of gun store employees, noting that there were changes to the gun purchase form after the sale. Prosecutors say there were small additions unrelated to the portions filled by Hunter Biden. His lawyers have suggested they can argue that Hunter Biden did not see himself as an addict when prosecutors say he marked “no” to the question on the form.

“The terms ‘user’ or ‘addict’ are not defined on the form and were not explained to him,” the defense wrote in a recent document. “Someone, like Mr. Biden, who had just completed an 11-day rehab program and lived with a sober companion thereafter, could certainly believe that he was not a user or addict in the present tense.

The case is expected to last a few weeks. He is also scheduled to stand trial in September in California in the case in which he is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.

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Associated Press writer Colleen in Washington contributed to this report.