Hunter Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, has been charged with felony firearms offenses by special prosecutor David Weiss.
The allegations put the younger Biden under further legal strain after a plea deal he made with prosecutors fell through recently.
The younger Biden is accused of making false statements in connection with the purchase of the handgun on two charges, and getting a firearm unlawfully while abusing narcotics on a third count. The possession charge carries a term of up to 10 years, while the two charges of making false statements each carry a sentence of up to five years.
Hunter Biden's business and personal affairs have been closely examined by prosecutors for years. This investigation seemed to come to a head in June when the two sides reached a plea deal that would have allowed him to admit to two minor tax offenses and enter a pretrial diversion program to avoid prosecution for a felony gun charge.
That arrangement, however, broke down at a court hearing in July when U.S. Judge Maryellen Noreika voiced concerns about the pact's format and questioned the scope of an immunity grant, revealing rifts between the two sides.
Weiss, who had been first chosen as special counsel by then-President Donald Trump, was upgraded to that position a few weeks later on Aug. 11 by Attorney General Merrick Garland, giving him greater ability to file charges against Hunter Biden anywhere in the nation.
Afterward, the prosecution told the court that further discussions had come to "an impasse," and Hunter Biden's counsel claimed that Weiss' office had broken their word.
Hunter Biden speaks to a person during an official state dinner hosted by President Joe Biden for India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2023. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
The attack on Thursday is not expected to be the last. Also, Weiss dropped the two tax misdemeanor charges in Delaware with the purpose of filing them in California and Washington, D.C., the locations of the alleged misbehavior. A timetable for such charges has not been provided by the prosecution.
The pretrial diversion arrangement, which was signed by prosecutors, is still in force, according to Hunter Biden's legal team. According to Weiss' team, the probation officer never signed it, making it invalid.
Attorney for Hunter Biden Abbe Lowell stated in a statement, "As predicted, prosecutors presented charges today that they judged were not merited only six weeks ago following a five-year investigation into this case. "We think these accusations are preempted by the plea deal the prosecutors reached with Mr. Biden, the recent decisions by many federal courts that this legislation is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not break that law, and we aim to prove all of that in court," the defense team said.
Hunter Biden obtained a pistol in October 2018 according to the actions detailed in Weiss' indictment, despite subsequently admitting in his autobiography, "Beautiful Things," that he was drug dependent at the time.
Prosecutors claim that Biden obtained a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver and lied about his drug usage on a government form. Hunter Biden took crack cocaine almost daily, according to evidence submitted by the prosecution as part of that disastrous plea agreement.
Although the law is clear—lying on a gun application form or possessing a handgun while using drugs is illegal—legal experts have warned that prosecutors may encounter challenges.
Recently, a federal appeals court in New Orleans decided that drug usage alone should not be a prerequisite for being denied access to a firearm. Due to Delaware's exclusion from the Fifth Circuit, the decision is not legally binding.
Yet Lowell just asserted that it may help him defend himself.
Lowell stated earlier this month in an appearance on MSNBC that "if people have paid attention, the only legislation that has changed [after the plea agreement was collapsed] has been a court of appeals in the federal system that has deemed that provision unconstitutional."
In addition, according to Lowell, federal prosecutors in Delaware have never prosecuted a person under this legislation on its own as a "standalone" offense.
While Hunter Biden's future is still up in the air, Weiss' accusation has one immediate and obvious consequence: the older Biden will enter the 2024 election cycle once more shadowed by his son's legal woes.
Politicians opposed to the president have seized on Hunter Biden's international business transactions to make accusations that the whole Biden family is corrupt, despite the fact that there is now no conclusive proof that Joe Biden benefitted from or materially supported his son's work.
On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, House Leader Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday that he will open an impeachment investigation on President Biden due to his suspected involvement in his son's political influence-peddling. The president "hasn't done anything wrong," the White House said, calling the action "extreme politics at its worst."
James Comer, one of the lead committee chairs now leading Republicans" impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, said in a statement to ABC News in reference to unproven allegations against Hunter Biden and his father: "Today's charges are a very small start, but unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden's DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy."
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