Son of U.S. President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden (53), was charged on Thursday (9/14/2023) with illegally purchasing a firearm five years ago.
Hunter Biden was charged with two counts of false statements for claiming in several documents that he did not illegally consume illicit drugs when purchasing a Colt revolver pistol in Delaware.
The third charge against him states that because of these false statements, he possessed the firearm illegally. The charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, as reported by VOA Indonesia on Friday (9/15).
The charges were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss from the U.S. Department of Justice, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018. The charges were filed two months after a plea deal between Hunter Biden and Weiss, which included charges related to firearm possession and tax violations by Hunter Biden, failed due to disputes over the possibility of future charges against the president’s son.
In the initial agreement in July, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two minor tax evasion charges. In return, he would serve probation, given that he had already paid off his tax debt and fines to the government.
In the same agreement, Weiss agreed to drop criminal prosecution for firearm possession, provided Hunter Biden completed a “pretrial diversion” process, which typically involves counseling or rehabilitation.
Shadowing Biden’s Presidential Campaign
In a dramatic hearing on July 26, the deal fell apart amid questions about whether Hunter Biden would be immune from potential future prosecution, which Weiss was also investigating, including potential criminal activity in Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine, China, and elsewhere.
The judge mentioned the possibility that Hunter Biden could be charged for acting as a foreign agent without registering with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Three weeks later, after the deal failed, Weiss dropped the tax evasion charges against Hunter Biden and indicated that he would file new charges in another state.
He also told the Delaware court that charges related to firearm possession would be filed at the end of September.
The legal troubles facing Hunter Biden, a Yale-educated lawyer and lobbyist, cast a shadow over his father’s presidential campaign, Joe Biden, although no evidence has been presented. The Republican Party has accused the U.S. Department of Justice under Joe Biden’s administration of protecting the president’s son and has alleged that Weiss, a special counsel appointed by the Republicans, is not seriously investigating Hunter Biden.
