Hunter Biden is set to appear in court for his arraignment on Oct. 3 following his recent indictment.
Biden was indicted by special counsel David Weiss on Sept. 14 concerning a firearm purchased in October 2018. This marks the first time in US history that the Justice Department has indicted the child of a sitting president.
The charges against him include two counts of alleged false statements and one count of possessing a firearm while addicted to illegal drugs.
Biden “provided a written statement on Form 4473 certifying he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious,” according to the indictment.
Weiss has been leading the Hunter Biden investigation since late 2018. Over the years, he and his team have looked into issues tied to Biden’s overseas business deals, including potential felony tax evasion, illegal foreign lobbying and money laundering.
The investigation appeared to be reaching a conclusion in June when Weiss announced an agreement where Biden would plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanors and enter a “diversion agreement” stating that the gun charges would be dropped in two years if Biden submitted to regular drug tests and stayed out of legal trouble.
In an unexpected turn of events, the deals collapsed at a court hearing in July under scrutiny from a federal judge overseeing the case. The two sides tried to renegotiate an agreement but were unsuccessful.
Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, claims the earlier deal means the gun charges should not be enforced.
“We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the fact that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court,” Lowell said.
Prosecutors say the deal never went into force.
The constitutionality of a charge is being questioned on the basis of a ruling passed by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in August. The court struck down the law that prohibits users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms, citing a Supreme Court decision in 2022 that changed how lower courts handle gun restrictions.
“In short, our history and tradition may support some limits on an intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon, but it does not justify disarming a sober citizen based exclusively on his past drug usage,” Circuit Judge Jerry Smith said. “Nor do more generalized traditions of disarming dangerous persons support this restriction on nonviolent drug users.”
At this time, the 5th Circuit ruling has no legal bearing in Biden’s case, which was brought in Delaware. According to court filings, if Biden is convicted of all counts, he could face as much as 25 years in prison and fines of up to $750,000.
Lowell says Biden will plead not guilty to all three felony gun charges.
“Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice,” Lowell said in a statement about the indictment.
Biden’s arraignment is set for October 3.
Article written by Alexis Jones.