Hunter Biden Indicted On Gun Charges

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was indicted Thursday on federal gun charges.

Federal prosecutors already indicated earlier this month that they were moving to charge Biden on the charges. He pleaded not guilty in July to misdemeanor tax charges after a plea agreement fell apart. As part of that deal, Biden would have entered a diversion program in lieu of the gun charges.

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Prosecutors allege that Biden made false statements in the purchase of a firearm in 2018. Specifically, on a gun purchase form, he attested that he was not addicted to a narcotic when he was still using, according to prosecutors. Biden was charged with three counts in the case. Read the indictment.

The indictment puts Hunter Biden’s legal troubles again front and center during the presidential election, as they were in 2020. Already, the president’s critics compared the treatment of Hunter Biden’s criminal case to that of former President Donald Trump, who faces four separate criminal cases, including federal charges related to his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 presidential election.

The prosecutor in the case, David Weiss, was appointed by then-president Donald Trump, but still came under fire from congressional Republicans when the plea deal was announced earlier this year. The deal would likely have allowed Hunter Biden to avoid jail time. But that deal fell apart at a Delaware federal court hearing in July.

Weiss has since been named a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys have maintained that the deal with prosecutors on the gun charges is still in effect. In a filing earlier this month, his attorneys wrote, “Mr. Biden has been following and will continue to follow the conditions of that Agreement, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed and signed and informed the Court on July 20, 2023 that the Probation Office had agreed to and had recommended be put into effect.”

More to come.

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