WILMINGTON, Del. Federal Public Ministry painted this Tuesday President Joe Biden’s Son, Hunter as a clear drug addict whose shady habits ensnared his loved ones and who knew what he was doing when he lied on federal forms to buy a gun in 2018, when he said he wasn’t suffering from addiction.
Biden Hunter He was accused of three crimes arising from the purchase when he was, according to his memories, addicted to crack. He was accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer by making a false statement on the application that he was not a drug user and had possessed the gun illegally for 11 days.
Prosecutors told the jury in their opening statement that Hunter Biden was clearly an addict when he bought the gun and that he told his brother’s widow he was waiting for a drug dealer just days after he lied on the form.
“No one is allowed to lie on a federal form like this, not even Hunter Biden,” said federal prosecutor Derek Hines.
“He crossed the line when he decided to buy a gun and lied on a federal background check…the defendant’s choice to buy a gun is why we are here.”
Hines said “addiction is depressing” but that Hunter Biden’s addiction is not the reason for the case.
The lawsuit comes after the failure of a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty and argued that he is being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department after Republicans condemned the now terminated plea deal as special treatment for Democratic president’s son.
First lady Jill Biden and her sister Ashley Biden joined him again in court as opening statements began.
The trial is taking place just days after Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 crimes In New York City. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity highlights how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.
Jury selection changed quickly on Monday in the president’s home statewhere Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established. Joe Biden spent 36 years as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington.
People there know how Biden’s two young sons, Hunter and Beau, were injured in the car crash that killed his wife and daughter in the early 1970s. And Beau Biden was the former state attorney general before he died at age 46 from cancer.
Some potential jurors were dismissed because they knew the family personally, others because they had positive and negative political opinions about the Bidens and could not be impartial. Even so, it only took one day to find the panel of 12 people and four alternates.
Hunter Biden will also face trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes. Both cases should have been resolved through a deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a years-long investigation into his dealings.
But Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed to the court by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the deal, which included a proposed guilty plea to resolve tax crimes and a deal to divert the gun charge, the That meant as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years and the case would be dropped.
The lawyers were unable to reach a resolution on their issues and the deal fell apart. Attorney General Merrick Garland then named the lead investigator, a former U.S. attorney in Delaware, David Weiss, as special counsel in August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.
The opening statements come as Garland faces members of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee in Washington, which has been investigating the president and his family and whose chairman has been at the forefront of a stalled impeachment inquiry arising from Hunter Biden’s trade negotiations.
The Delaware trial does not address Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs, although the proceedings will likely bring up dark, embarrassing and painful memories.
The president’s allies are worried about the toll the trial could take on the older Biden, who has long worried about her only living son and his sobriety and who must now watch as her son’s past mistakes are publicly scrutinized. And the president must do so while campaigning under anemic poll numbers and preparing for an upcoming presidential debate with Trump.
Aboard Air Force One on Monday night, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked whether the case could affect the president’s ability to do his job, and she responded: “Absolutely.” no”.
“He always puts the American people first and is able to do his job,” said Jean-Pierre, who declined to say whether Biden received updates on the trial throughout the day or spoke to his son after the trial concluded. process.
Biden was scheduled to travel to France on Tuesday night and will be gone for the rest of the week. The first lady is expected to join him later this week.
The case against Hunter Biden stems from a period when, by his own public admission, he was addicted to crack. His descent followed the death of his brother in 2015 of cancer.
If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders don’t get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge will give him time behind bars.
Trump is set to be condemned on July 11 by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who raised the specter of prison time during the trial after the former president racked up thousands of dollars in fines for violating a gag order.
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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Fatima Hussein aboard Air Force One contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.
