Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was found guilty today on three counts related to the purchase of a gun in 2018.
A jury in Wilmington, Delaware, returned its verdict after three hours of deliberation. The verdict was broadcast by all major news networks, although news cameras were not allowed in the courtroom. The broadcast networks also used special reports.
He faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000. Since he is a first-time offender, his sentence is likely to be significantly less.
Biden’s trial was the latest criminal case to impact the 2024 presidential campaign. It began just days after a New York state jury convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts. While Trump and his allies criticized the verdict as the result of a “rigged” political process, the president was cautious about what he said about the trial related to his son. Republicans have long made Hunter Biden a political target, but President Biden said in an interview last week that he would accept the verdict against his son and had ruled out a pardon.
Biden was charged with three felonies, including lying on federal documents by claiming he had not used drugs or been addicted to drugs at the time he purchased the gun. Biden has long acknowledged his addiction to crack cocaine, but has since gotten clean.
Among those present at some of the proceedings was First Lady Jill Biden, along with other family members, who was also at the courthouse today.
His lawyers claimed that the client did not consider himself an addict when he filled out the gun purchase form. But prosecutors presented extensive evidence detailing the darker aspects of his life when he was in the grips of drug use, including playing portions of the audio version of his memoirs, Beautiful thingsBiden owned the gun for eleven days until Hallie Biden, his brother’s widow with whom he had a brief relationship, found it and threw it in the trash.
Biden also faces tax charges in Los Angeles; the trial is scheduled for this fall.
Biden did not testify in his own defense. Last year, it looked like he would plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors, but the deal fell through when the presiding judge questioned the agreement. Republicans also accused the Justice Department at the time of arranging a reduced sentence for the president’s son.
The president was not at the courthouse. Later in the day, Biden is scheduled to speak at Everytown Gun Sense University about gun violence prevention.
Coverage of the ruling quickly turned to the potential political implications. On CNN, Kate Bedingfield, former White House communications director under Biden, said that “everyone in this country can relate to what it’s like when someone in your family that you love is struggling with addiction, and how difficult that is for the family.” She noted that Joe Biden had raised the point during the 2020 presidential debates.
“This really undermines Trump’s argument that Joe Biden would weaponize the justice system,” she said.