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Hunter Biden To Plead Not Guilty To Federal Gun Charges
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Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, is expected to plead not guilty to federal gun charges, according to a Tuesday court filing.
Hunter Biden was indicted by special counsel David Weiss on felony gun charges last week after a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time on the gun charges in exchange for pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses fell apart in July.
The charges stem from Hunter Biden’s purchase of a gun in Delaware in October 2018, in which he allegedly lied on a federal form stating he was not using or addicted to illegal drugs while he was regularly using crack cocaine. Lying on the form, which is required by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), is a federal crime.
He is charged with two counts connected to lying on the form and one count of possessing a firearm while using a narcotic.
Hunter Biden had reached a deal to avoid prosecution on the gun charge by entering pre-trial diversion and meeting other requirements over a period of two years, including an agreement to acknowledge his failure to pay taxes in 2017 and 2018, which were misdemeanor violations.
In the Tuesday filing, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, sought to have his client appear virtually for his arraignment in Delaware court in order to plead not guilty, citing “”the financial impact on government resources and the logistical burden on the downtown area of Wilmington.”
The charges come amid a five-year investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances and personal life, and how they relate to the Biden family’s wider business dealings.
Weiss also withdrew the two misdemeanor tax charges filed in Delaware, and plans to file them in California and Washington, D.C., where the violations allegedly occurred, per reports.
“There’s no reason for the prosecution to push for an in-person arraignment when it knows Biden is simply going to utter these two words: ‘not guilty’,” said attorney and law lecturer Danny Karon, who is not involved in the case.
“Remote hearings have become commonplace, and I can’t remember the last time I attended a live one even for a major case development like a motion to dismiss. Half the time, we don’t have hearings at all,” Karon said.
“What’s puzzling is that the Biden Justice Department is pushing hard against Biden’s son. This can only be because the prosecutor is a Trump appointee who’s looking to create as much chaos as possible. To me, this is dirty pool. An arraignment is a non-event. Get in and get out and save your powder for the rest of the case, not for media headlines,” Karon said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, on allegations of “abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption” related to the family’s business dealings, including Hunter’s work on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Hunter Biden this week sued the Internal Revenue Service, alleging the agency failed to protect his private tax records when agents illegally released his tax information.
He has also filed a federal lawsuit against former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler, who is not related to the IRS agent, for his alleged role in publishing documents and photos found on his laptop.
According to the lawsuit, Ziegler and 10 other unnamed defendants allegedly released “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” on the internet. Some of those photos and videos depicted sex, drug use, and a firearm.
TMX contributed to this article.
