On Tuesday morning, a federal jury found Hunter Biden guilty on all three federal felony gun charges that were brought against him. Federal law prevents drug addicts from owning and purchasing firearms, where Biden was accused of lying on a federal form about his substance abuse when buying a handgun in 2018.
The guilty verdict marks the first time a president’s son has been found guilty of a crime while their father was in office. Reportedly, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison along with a fine of $750,000 at his sentencing. However, he is expected to receive a lightened sentence as a first-time offender.
The American Tribune recently reported on comments from President Biden that he would not pardon his son if he were found guilty in the federal case, noting that he would respect the outcome produced by the judicial system.
In September 2023, Hunter was charged with making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer, and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is addicted to a controlled substance.
The indictment against the president’s son read, “On or about October 12, 2018, in the District of Delaware, the defendant, Robert Hunter Biden, in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL Revolver with serial number RA 551363…knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement, intended and likely to deceive that dealer with respect to a fact material to the lawfulness of the sale of the firearm…in that the defendant, Robert Hunter 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.”
Throughout the process, Hunter’s legal team blamed MAGA Republicans for pushing the investigators to vindictively pursue the case against Hunter. They accused the GOP of “partisan interference” in the judicial process. His attorneys said, “As expected, prosecutors filed charges today that they deemed were not warranted just six weeks ago following a five-year investigation into this case. The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans’ improper and partisan interference in this process.”
Hunter’s defense also argued that, despite breaking federal law, his possession of a gun was not a “threat to public safety.” His lawyers continued, “Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 day [sic] 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. 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 facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court.”
Featured image: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunter_Biden_and_Abbe_Lowell_in_2023.jpg
"*" indicates required fields