WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Hunter
Biden stared straight ahead and showed little emotion as the verdict was read
after jury deliberations that lasted only three hours over two days. He hugged
his attorneys, smiled wanly and kissed his wife, Melissa, before leaving the
courtroom with her.
President
Joe Biden issued a statement shortly after the verdict, saying he would accept
the outcome of the case and “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter
considers an appeal.” Now Hunter Biden and presumptive Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump, the president’s chief political rival, have both been
convicted by American jurors in an election year that has been as much about
the courtroom as about campaign events and rallies.
Hunter
Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District
Judge Maryellen Noreika, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near
the maximum, and it’s unclear whether she would give him time behind bars. The
judge did not set a sentencing date.
“No one
in this country is above the law,” special counsel David Weiss, the prosecutor
who has led the long-running federal investigation into the president’s son,
told reporters after the verdict. “Everyone must be accountable for their
actions.”
Hunter
Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, suggested they would appeal, saying they will
“continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available.” In a
written statement, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but
grateful for the support of family and friends.
The
jury’s decision was read swiftly after an announcement that jurors had reached
a verdict. First lady Jill Biden and some other family members who sat through
much of the trial did not make it into the courtroom in time to hear the jury’s
decision. After the verdict, Hunter Biden left the courthouse holding hands
with the first lady and his wife. They did not speak to reporters, got into
waiting SUVs and drove off.
Joe
Biden steered clear of the federal courtroom in Delaware where his son was
tried and said little about the case, wary of creating an impression of
interfering in a criminal matter brought by his own Justice Department. But
allies of the Democrat have worried about the toll that the trial — and now the
conviction — will take on the 81-year-old, who has long been concerned with his
only living son’s health and sustained sobriety.
Hunter
Biden and Trump have both argued they were victimized by the politics of the
moment. But while Trump has continued to falsely claim the verdict was
“rigged,” Joe Biden has said he would accept the verdict and would not seek to
pardon his son.
The
president said in his statement Tuesday that he and the first lady will always
be there for their son with “love and support.”
“So many
families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of
pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and
resilient in recovery,” President Biden said. Hunter Biden has said he’s been
sober since 2019.
The
president was scheduled to give a speech on his administration’s efforts to
limit gun violence at a conference hosted by the Everytown for Gun Safety
Action Fund in Washington. After the verdict was announced, the White House
canceled press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s scheduled briefing and announced
that Biden would spend Tuesday evening with family in Delaware. He leaves
Wednesday for the Group of Seven leaders conference in Italy.
Jurors
found Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a
false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally
having the gun for 11 days.
And his
legal troubles aren’t over. He faces a trial in September in California on
charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes, and congressional Republicans
have signaled they will keep going after him in their stalled impeachment
effort into the president. The president has not been accused or charged with
any wrongdoing by prosecutors investigating his son.
The
prosecution devoted much of the trial to highlighting the seriousness of Hunter
Biden’s drug problem, through highly personal testimony and embarrassing
evidence.
Jurors
heard Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend testify about his habitual
crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. Jurors saw images of
the president’s son bare-chested and disheveled in a filthy room, and
half-naked holding crack pipes. Jurors also watched video of his crack cocaine
weighed on a scale.
Hunter
Biden did not testify, but jurors heard his voice when prosecutors played audio
excerpts of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he talks about
hitting bottom after the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015, and his descent
into drugs before his eventually achieving sobriety.
Prosecutors
felt the evidence was necessary to prove that Hunter, 54, was in the throes of
addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied when he checked “no” on the
form that asked whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” drugs.
Hunter
Biden’s lawyers had argued that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he
bought the gun. They sought to show he was trying to turn his life around at
the time, having completed a rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.
The defense called three witnesses, including Hunter’s daughter Naomi, who told
jurors that he seemed be improving in the weeks before he bought the gun.
The
trial played out in the president’s home state, where Hunter Biden grew up and
where the family is deeply established. Joe Biden spent 36 years as a senator
in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington, and Beau Biden was the state
attorney general.
Hunter
Biden had hoped last year to resolve a long-running federal investigation under
a deal with prosecutors that would avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to
the 2024 election. Under the deal, he would have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor
tax offenses and avoided prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of
trouble for two years.
But the
deal fell apart after Noreika, who was nominated by Trump, questioned unusual
aspects of the proposed agreement, and the lawyers could not resolve the
matter.
Attorney
General Merrick Garland then appointed the top investigator, Weiss, Delaware’s
U.S. attorney, as a special counsel last August, and a month later Hunter Biden
was indicted.
Hunter
Biden has said he was charged because the Justice Department bowed to pressure
from Republicans who argued the Democratic president’s son was getting special
treatment.
The
reason law enforcement raised any questions about the revolver is because
Hallie Biden, Beau’s widow, found it unloaded in Hunter’s truck on Oct. 23,
2018, panicked and tossed it into a garbage can at a grocery store, where a man
inadvertently fished it out of the trash. Hallie Biden, who had a romantic
relationship with Hunter after Beau died, testified about the episode in court.
****More:
https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-gun-trial-federal-charges-delaware-5dd8a9380235c6360a1ddb691ef24a06#
*****RANDALL
CHASE, CLAUDIA LAUER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER AND COLLEEN LONG
***Richer
and Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Mike Catalini in
Wilmington contributed to this report.
*ALANNA
DURKIN RICHER , Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice
Department and legal issues from Washington.
*COLLEEN
LONG, The White House, law enforcement and legal affairs