Hunter Biden, the son of US Vice President Joe Biden, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Delaware on Tuesday and is anticipated to plead not guilty to allegations of illegally having a weapon.
Hunter Biden, 53, is facing three felony counts related to the acquisition of a.38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver in 2018.
Biden faces two charges of making false statements for declaring on paperwork required for the gun purchase that he was not using illegal narcotics at the time.
Based on the same statements, he faces a third accusation of illegally possessing the gun, which he had for only 11 days in October 2018 before it was destroyed.
Abbe Lowell, Biden’s lawyer, has informed the court that the president’s son intends to plead not guilty at his arraignment on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) at a federal courthouse in Wilmington, the Bidens’ hometown.
Lowell also requested that Judge Christopher Burke allow Biden, who lives in California, to appear via video rather than in person, but the motion was denied.
“The defendant should not receive any special treatment in this matter,” Burke wrote in his ruling.
A deal with federal prosecutor David Weiss that would have eliminated the gun accusations in exchange for Biden pleading guilty to two tax crimes and avoiding prison fell down in July.
As a result, Weiss filed three felony gun possession charges against Biden.
If convicted, Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, but in fact, such infractions are rarely punished by jail time if not accompanied by other charges.
Possible Tax Charges
Weiss, who was appointed special counsel for the Biden investigation after the plea deal fell through, has indicated that he is still looking into possible tax charges against Biden.
Republicans have often criticized Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China while his father was vice president under Barack Obama.
Under pressure from the party’s far right, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy authorized the initiation of an impeachment probe into the president last month.
However, the younger Biden has not been charged with any crimes relating to his international business transactions, and no solid proof that his father was involved in anything improper has emerged thus far.
Hunter Biden is a Yale-educated lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction have plagued his life. His legal problems threaten to overshadow his father’s reelection campaign next year.
Throughout his personal and legal troubles, the 80-year-old president has stood solidly behind his only surviving son, claiming earlier this year that Hunter has “done nothing wrong.”
“I trust him. I have faith in him,” Joe Biden said.