WILMINGTON – He jury began deliberating on Monday in the judgment of Hunter Bidenson of United States President Joe Biden, on federal charges of illegal possession of firearms for a revolver he bought in 2018 when, according to prosecutors, he was addicted to crack cocaine.
This is the first criminal case against the son of a sitting US president. Hunter, 54, is accused of lying about his drug use to acquire the arma in 2018, specifically a Colt Cobra revolver, for at least 11 days after falsifying the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) form to purchase the weapon.
The second of them points out that the president’s son would have lied to the seller of the weapon about the same matter. The third charge accuses Hunter Biden of illegally possessing weapons while he was using or addicted to drugs, which is considered a federal crime.
His trial takes place as his father seeks re-election.
In the trial some of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s son’s past have come to light. Prosecutors have used testimony from former romantic partners, personal text messages and photographs in which Hunter Biden is seen wearing drug paraphernalia or partially naked to argue that he broke the law.
“No one is above the law,” prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors in his closing arguments as first lady Jill Biden watched from the front row of the courtroom in Wilmington, Delaware.
Hunter did not testify at trial
The 12 jurors began deliberating after prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s defense team presented their closing arguments.
The jury met for about an hour before concluding their deliberations for the day. They will return on Tuesday at 9:00.
Hunter Biden did not testify during the week-long trial held in Wilmington, Delaware, his hometown.
Tax evasion
The trial, along with another case in which Hunter faces tax evasion charges in California, complicates Democrats’ efforts to keep the focus on Trump, the first former president to be convicted of criminal offenses.
First lady Jill Biden attended the trial for several days. The president did not appear but said he and his wife were “proud” of his son.
“As president I do not and will not comment on pending federal cases, but as a father, I have boundless love for my son, trust in him, and respect for his strength,” Biden said in a statement.
In addition to being a political distraction, Hunter Biden’s legal problems have reopened old family wounds, stemming from his drug problems.
His brother Beau died of cancer in 2015 and his sister Naomi died as a child, in 1972, in a car accident in which their mother, Neilia, the president’s first wife and mother of the three, also died.
In the crosshairs of the Republicans
The president’s son, who has written endlessly about his addiction, stated that at the time he bought the revolver he did not consider himself an addict. Hunter assures that since 2019 he has not used drugs.
If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, although a lighter sentence, even without prison, is expected because he has no criminal record.
The president’s son has long been in the crosshairs of Republicans, who are promoting an exhaustive investigation within Congress, accusing him of corruption and influence peddling.
His business dealings in China and Ukraine also provided the basis for Republican attempts to open impeachment proceedings to remove his father, but the efforts were unsuccessful because Democrats have a majority in the Senate.
The White House said last year that there would be no presidential pardon for Hunter if he was convicted.
Source: With information from AFP, AP and Europa Press
