Wilmington, June 3: President Joe Biden’s son Hunter arrived at court on Monday for jury selection in a federal gun case against him after the collapse of a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. First lady Jill Biden arrived shortly after, entering the courthouse in support of her son.
Hunter Biden, who spent the weekend with his parents, has been charged in Delaware with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase when he was, according to his memoir, in the throes of a crack addiction. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants when he said he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
He has pleaded not guilty and has argued he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department, after Republicans decried the now-defunct deal as special treatment for the Democratic president’s son. The trial comes just days after Donald Trump, Republicans’ presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City. A jury found the former president guilty of a scheme to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor to fend off damage to his 2016 presidential campaign. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the criminal courtroom has taken centre stage during the 2024 campaign. Hunter Biden is also facing a separate trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay USD 1.4 million in taxes. (AP)
