WILMINGTON, Delaware — Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to illegal gun possession charges during an appearance in federal court on Tuesday, marking the beginning of a new legal battle for President Joe Biden’s son after his plea deal with the Department of Justice collapsed this summer.
The younger Biden, who is 53, was arraigned in the J. Caleb Boggs federal courthouse and released on a probationary status under the condition that he not use alcohol or drugs and “continue or actively seek” employment.
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The judge noted Hunter Biden would be free to travel as he pleased while awaiting his trial as long as he communicated it to the district court and that he would be subject to alcohol and drug testing.
The judge also said the first son had passed an alcohol and drug test since his last court date in July.
Hunter Biden leaves the courthouse after pleading not guilty to three federal gun charges. He has a new haircut, too. pic.twitter.com/TBLnC3qH9W
— Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) October 3, 2023
While in the courtroom, he was accompanied by two lawyers, including his lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell, who is also representing Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in his recent indictment.
The first son was indicted in September on three felony gun charges brought by special counsel David Weiss stemming from allegations he lied that he was not addicted to drugs when filling out a form to purchase a revolver in 2018.
Hunter Biden’s charges carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and fines, but sentencing standards all but guarantee his penalty would come in well under that if he were convicted.
The younger Biden, who resides in California, had sought to appear virtually on Tuesday, but the judge denied the request, saying he “should not receive special treatment in this matter.”
The arraignment comes after Weiss initially struck a plea deal with Hunter Biden in June that involved the president’s son pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge related to the 2018 incident.
The deal was short-lived, however, after a federal judge unexpectedly raised questions at a hearing in July about the immunity provisions of the deal, asking if they would protect Hunter Biden from certain other charges, such as a Foreign Agents Registration Act violation.
Leo Wise, a prosecutor for Weiss who was also in the courtroom Tuesday, said at the time of the plea hearing that the younger Biden could be charged over FARA. Defense attorneys disagreed, leading to the deal’s unraveling and Weiss seeking a grand jury indictment for the gun charges.
Weiss is expected to still bring the tax charges against the first son.
The legal chain of events comes against the backdrop of House Republicans launching an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden over allegations he leveraged his political power as vice president for his and his family’s personal profit.
Hunter Biden has, in the last decade, been tied up in a number of well-documented foreign business dealings in several countries, including Ukraine, China, and Romania, and Republicans have sought to prove that Joe Biden was inappropriately involved in those ventures.
The DOJ, for its part, began investigating Hunter Biden about five years ago, and two Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators involved in the case came forward to Congress this spring about concerns that the investigation had been obstructed to the benefit of the president’s son.
The charge has bolstered the Republicans’ inquiry, and they have since obtained testimony from a number of other DOJ and IRS officials that have corroborated some of the whistleblowers’ allegations.
The pair of whistleblowers also provided Congress with a detailed history of how top officials in the investigation had been in agreement about bringing charges against the younger Biden for the 2014 and 2015 tax years, when he was involved in his most high-profile and controversial dealings in Ukraine, but the whistleblowers say the DOJ allowed the statute of limitations on those charges to lapse.
Weiss’s anticipated tax charges against Hunter Biden would cover the 2017 and 2018 tax years.
Lowell has argued that any charges Weiss attempts to bring against his client outside of what was in the defunct plea agreement would be a result of political pressure from Republicans. Some have also raised constitutional questions with the gun charges after a Supreme Court ruling last year worked to loosen restrictions on gun ownership.
Lowell has also maintained that a portion of the plea deal from June is actually in effect and that Weiss, therefore, cannot charge the president’s son with the gun charges, an argument Weiss disputes.
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The judge has set a due date of Nov. 3 for parties in the case to submit any motions ahead of the trial.
Read in full the conditions of Hunter Biden’s release below:
