Hunter will be the first child of a sitting president to be a criminal defendant as jury selection began on Monday, June 3. His trial follows another historic first: the criminal trial of former president Donald Trump.
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to three federal criminal charges related to his 2018 purchase of a revolver. The president's son was charged in September 2023 by U.S. Special Counsel David Weiss, with lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought a handgun and with illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018.
According to the Department of Justice, Hunter could face a maximum punishment of 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Hunter's trial comes as Joe Biden struggles to generate voter enthusiasm
The trial comes as Biden's campaign for a second four-year term is failing to generate voter enthusiasm due to inflation, American involvement in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and concerns about his age. The 81-year-old is the oldest sitting president in the history of the United States.
On May 28, meanwhile, closing arguments were presented to a New York jury over charges that Trump, 77, falsified business records to cover up hush-money payments to influence the 2016 race.
Trump faces three other criminal trials that have yet to be scheduled and are unlikely to conclude before the election. (Related: “Guilty” Joe frustrated over Congressional probe of his son Hunter and accusations of bribery, kickbacks.)
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As prosecutors have investigated and charged Trump, Republicans have emphasized allegations of financial misconduct against the president's family, particularly Hunter.
In September, Hunter faces a separate federal criminal tax trial in Los Angeles. Hunter has also pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Some have predicted that Hunter's gun trial in the family's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, could last more than two weeks.
In court filings, federal prosecutors have said that they will present photos, testimony and messages to prove that Hunter was an illegal drug user around the time he bought the gun and failed to disclose that as required on a federal gun purchase form.
The government said it might call his ex-wife and solicit her testimony about several incidents, such as removing drugs from Hunter's car to protect their daughter.
Prosecutors also shared that they may use details obtained from Hunter's phone, his iCloud account and a laptop that he purportedly left at a repair store, including photos of the president's son smoking crack and texts arranging meetings with illegal drug dealers.
Prosecutors may also use Hunter's own words against him. In his 2021 autobiography "Beautiful Things," he wrote that he "was a crack addict," which prosecutors said they may show the jury. Hunter also wrote that he "had no plan beyond the moment-to-moment demands of the crack pipe."
To convict on the two charges related to the gun purchase, prosecutors must convince 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter knowingly made a false statement on his gun purchase form and that the lie was crucial to the sale of the firearm.
For the gun possession charge, the government must prove that Hunter knew he was either an unlawful user of a controlled substance or a drug addict and that he knowingly possessed a gun.
Biden's legal team attempts to question the quality of the evidence
In court filings, Hunter's legal team has tried to question the quality of the evidence.
Investigations revealed that the storage pouch containing Hunter's Colt handgun had traces of cocaine. In 2018, the weapon was found in a trash bin by what the defense team claimed was a "garbage scavenger. However, prosecutors only tested the gun five years later, said Biden's legal team.
The defense team also argues that the laptop that Hunter was said to have abandoned at a Wilmington computer repair shop in 2019 showed signs of tampering before it was acquired by government authorities.
Additionally, defense lawyers have highlighted the prosecution's acknowledgment that the gun purchase form at the center of the case was altered after Hunter submitted it to a staff member at StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.
Hunter's lawyers have also questioned what it means to be a "knowing addict." His legal team has claimed that Hunter had completed an 11-day rehabilitation stint and he could have believed he was sober when he ticked the box for "no" on the federal gun purchase form asking if he was an unlawful user of controlled substances.
In July, Hunter told U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika that he had been free of illegal drugs and alcohol since the middle of 2019.
At that same hearing, Noreika declined to approve a plea agreement for Hunter that would have averted the gun charges, which set the stage for his trial.
Visit BidenCrimeFamily.news for more updates on Hunter's criminal trial and the rest of the Biden family.
Watch this episode of "Flyover Conservatives" as hosts David and Stacy Whited talk about Hunter's laptop and the Biden crime family.
This video is from the Flyover Conservatives channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Hunter Biden WALKS OUT of House hearing as Republicans rebuke presidential son.
Tom Fitton: Congress HAS THE POWER to ARREST Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden threatens to flee the country if Trump wins 2024 presidential election.
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