Hunter Biden has decided to abandon his request for a new trial in his federal gun case, a significant development in the ongoing legal saga surrounding the president’s son. This decision comes after a series of legal maneuvers and court rulings that have shaped the contours of the upcoming trial.
Earlier, a federal appeals court denied Hunter Biden’s request to postpone his trial on gun charges, which is set to begin next month in Delaware. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, had argued that there was “no urgency in having an immediate trial,” but the court, comprising judges nominated by Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and George W. Bush, denied the request. This same panel had previously rejected Biden’s bid to overturn the trial judge’s rejection of several motions to dismiss the case.
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on three counts related to possessing a gun while using narcotics, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to start on June 3 in Wilmington, Delaware. In a separate case, Biden faces tax charges in California, with that trial set to begin on June 20. He has also pleaded not guilty to those charges, which include allegations of failing to pay taxes, failing to file, evading an assessment, and filing a fraudulent form.
Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is overseeing the gun case, issued a series of pretrial rulings that handed wins to both sides. She sided with prosecutors on a key question about what they need to prove regarding Biden’s drug use when he bought the gun in 2018. To secure a conviction, prosecutors must show that Biden was generally using drugs at the time, not necessarily on the specific day he purchased the firearm. However, the judge also allowed Biden’s lawyers to challenge the authenticity of specific texts from his infamous laptop, which will be presented to the jury by special counsel David Weiss’ team.
The trial is expected to last up to two weeks, including jury selection, with the potential to go longer. The parties have also tussled over forms from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that were filled out when Biden bought the revolver in October 2018. These forms are crucial evidence because Biden is charged with making a false statement by checking a box that said he wasn’t using illegal drugs. There are two versions of the form: the initial version emailed to the ATF shortly after the purchase and a paper copy with additional information added by the gun store staff years later. Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, argued that the employees tampered with the form by adding details about how they verified Biden’s identity.
The judge has not yet issued any decisions on this matter, but prosecutors have asked her to exclude the altered form from the trial altogether. There was minimal disagreement between prosecutors and the defense team on many of the motions considered by Judge Noreika about what arguments a jury could hear. They generally agreed that Biden could not bring up claims that the prosecution violated the Second Amendment and that information from his failed plea deal should not come into the trial. The judge also granted Biden’s request to exclude references to his paternity case in Arkansas and his 2014 discharge from the Navy over a drug incident. She limited references to his lavish spending habits to those connected to drug use and sided with Biden on whether prosecutors could refer to the tax charges.
However, the judge noted that these decisions might need to be revisited if Biden decides to take the stand. His attorneys have not indicated whether he will testify, a decision usually announced once the trial is well underway.
In a related development, federal prosecutors plan to seek a grand jury indictment of Hunter Biden before the end of the month. This filing came in a gun possession case where Biden was accused of having a firearm while being a drug user. Prosecutors have not specified which charges they will seek, but they have indicated that the gun agreement is dead along with the rest of the plea agreement that called for Biden to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. This plea deal fell apart after Judge Noreika raised questions about it during a court appearance in July.
The Justice Department has not commented on the possible new indictment, which comes as House Republicans prepare for a likely impeachment inquiry of President Biden over unsubstantiated claims that he played a role in his son’s foreign business affairs during his time as vice president. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has suggested that an impeachment inquiry is a natural step forward based on the information gathered so far.
Hunter Biden has been the target of congressional investigations since Republicans gained control of the House in January. Lawmakers have obtained thousands of pages of financial records from various members of the Biden family through subpoenas to the Treasury Department and financial institutions. Three powerful House committees are now pursuing several lines of inquiry related to the president and his son. While Republicans have sought to connect Hunter Biden’s financial affairs directly to his father, they have not produced evidence that the president directly participated in his son’s work.
Hunter Biden was charged in June with two misdemeanor crimes of failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018. He had been expected to plead guilty in July after reaching an agreement with prosecutors, who planned to recommend two years of probation. However, the case fell apart during the hearing after Judge Noreika raised multiple concerns about the specifics of the deal and her role in the proceedings.
If prosecutors file a new gun possession charge, it could face court challenges. A federal appeals court in Louisiana recently ruled against the ban on gun possession by drug users, citing a 2022 Supreme Court ruling. News of another indictment comes after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named David Weiss a special counsel, giving him broad authority to investigate and report his findings, intensifying the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.
The White House Counsel’s office has referred questions to Hunter Biden’s personal attorneys.
Source: NBC News, CNN, Associated Press
