Biden’s son Hunter hit with gun charge, first for a US president’s child
By
Sarah N. Lynch, Jarrett Renshaw and Andrew Goudsward
U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was criminally charged on Thursday with deceiving a gun dealer into selling him a firearm, in the latest sign of how the younger Biden’s legal woes may weigh on his father’s re-election bid next year.
The first-ever indictment of a sitting president’s child, filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware, charged Hunter Biden with three criminal counts related to lying about the fact he was using illegal drugs at that time, which would have banned him under the law from owning a firearm.
The charges ensure that courtroom drama will play an outsized role in the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign as Joe Biden, 80, seeks re-election in a likely rematch with his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, 77, who faces four upcoming criminal trials of his own.
The new charges against Hunter Biden brought by recently elevated U.S. Special Counsel David Weiss say nothing about any violations of U.S. tax law.
A prior deal under which Hunter Biden, 53, would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour tax charges and enroll in a program to avoid prosecution on the gun charge collapsed in a stunning turn in a July hearing.
