A grand jury delivered an indictment Thursday against President Joe Biden‘s son Hunter over allegations he unlawfully owned a gun, charges that come almost two months after a plea deal dramatically fell apart in court.
The indictment, brought by special counsel David Weiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, included three counts against Hunter Biden for his alleged illegal ownership of the gun while addicted to drugs in 2018.
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He was charged with making a false statement to purchase a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by federal firearms licensed dealers, and possessing a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to controlled substances.
The charges carry a maximum total of 25 years in prison, but a judge is highly unlikely to hand down the maximum penalty based on charging standards.
Weiss in the indictment alleged the younger Biden made a false statement on a form to purchase a revolver that was “intended and likely to deceive” the firearm dealer.
The indictment came as expected after Weiss revealed in a court filing this month that he planned to obtain one by Sept. 29, in line with the Speedy Trial Act.
Weiss initially planned to strike a plea deal with Hunter Biden over three charges, which included one felony gun charge and two misdemeanor tax charges, but the deal fell apart in July when a federal judge unexpectedly raised questions at a plea hearing about how the deal would affect prosecutors’ ability to bring future charges against the younger Biden.
The deal was two-pronged and involved Hunter Biden pleading guilty to the two misdemeanors for failing to pay his taxes in 2017 and 2018 and entering into a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid the felony gun charge.
The judge’s questions at the plea hearing resulted in Hunter Biden’s defense team and Weiss reaching what prosecutors described as an “impasse” over the terms of the agreement, signaling an indictment and possible trial would be forthcoming.
The indictment followed the Republican-led House announcing Tuesday it had launched an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden based on allegations that he had been inappropriately involved in his son’s foreign business dealings while serving as vice president.
As part of that inquiry, Republicans have criticized the Department of Justice for “slow-walking” its investigation of the younger Biden and bringing what they view as weak charges against him. They are now meeting behind-the-scenes with federal investigators involved in the Hunter Biden case and questioning them on why Weiss has not brought other charges, including tax violations for the 2014 and 2015 tax year and a Foreign Agents Registration Act violation.
As far as the tax charges for 2017 and 2018 that were initially included in the plea deal, it remains unclear how Weiss plans to address those. Tax violations, according to court filings, could be brought in other venues outside of Delaware, including Washington, D.C., and California.
Weiss, for his part, has maintained that his investigation into Hunter Biden is ongoing.
The younger Biden’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell responded in a statement by accusing prosecutors of filing charges “they deemed were not warranted just six weeks ago.”
“The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans’ improper and partisan interference in this process,” Lowell said.
Lowell has also argued that the pretrial diversion agreement was executed, a notion Weiss disputes.
Lowell said that the gun charges were “barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), one of three chairmen leading the impeachment inquiry, called Thursday’s charges a “very small start” but said, “mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies.”
“Unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden’s DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy,” Comer added.
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The gun charges stem from 2018, during a time when Hunter Biden was grappling with drug addiction. According to text messages the Washington Examiner obtained, the younger Biden tore into his sister-in-law Hallie Biden in text messages for attempting to ruin his life after he found out in October of that year that she had thrown his gun away in a trash can near a high school, which had prompted police response.
A federal judge is now expected to set an arraignment date and eventually a trial date for the gun charges.
