The indictment says Hunter Biden lied on a form required for every gun purchase when he bought a Colt Cobra Special at a Wilmington, Delaware, gun shop in October 2018. He’s accused of checking a box falsely saying he was not a user of or addicted to drugs and of illegally possessing the gun as a drug user.
A felony gun charge against Hunter Biden, 53, had previously been part of a plea deal that also included guilty pleas to misdemeanour tax charges, but the agreement imploded during a court hearing in July when a judge raised questions about its unusual provisions.
Defense attorneys have argued that a part of the deal sparing Hunter Biden prosecution on the gun count if he stays out of trouble remains in place. It includes immunity provisions against other potential charges. Attorneys indicated they would fight additional charges filed against him, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Prosecutors, though, maintain the agreement never took effect and is now invalid. They telegraphed charges were coming earlier this month.
Republicans had denounced the plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal”. It would have allowed Hunter Biden to serve probation rather than jail time after pleading guilty to failing to pay taxes in both 2017 and 2018.
His personal income during those two years totalled roughly US$4 million, including business and consulting fees from a company he formed with the CEO of a Chinese business conglomerate and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, prosecutors have said.
Congressional Republicans have continued their own investigations into the Justice Department’s handling of the case as well as nearly every aspect of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, seeking to connect his financial affairs directly to his father. They have failed to produce evidence that the President directly participated in his son’s work, though he sometimes had dinner with his son’s clients or said hello to them on calls.
- AP
