Federal prosecutors have indicted Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, on gun charges, court documents show.
Biden was indicted in Delaware federal court on three counts tied to the possession of a gun while using narcotics.
Two counts are tied to Biden allegedly filing a form claiming that he was not using illegal drugs at the time he purchased a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The third count alleges that he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic.
The historic indictment against the son of a sitting president comes after a plea deal that might have ended a years-long probe into Hunter Biden fell apart and just as House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry in an effort to seek bank records and other documents from the president and his son.
The case is being overseen by special counsel David Weiss, who also headed the investigation. Weiss is a Trump appointee who was kept on as U.S. attorney for Delaware because of the sensitive and unique nature of the investigation into a president's son by the Justice Department, a part of the executive branch headed by the president. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss special counsel in August, as negotiations over the tax and gun charges collapsed.
Weiss’s investigation was opened in 2018, the year before Joe Biden announced his candidacy for president, according to a source familiar with the inquiry, and focused on the younger Biden’s finances.
The two sides reached a plea agreement in July which called for Hunter Biden to plead guilty in Delaware federal court to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors recommending a sentence of probation. A separate felony gun charge for illegally owning a Colt Cobra .38 Special handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what’s known as a diversion agreement.
The agreement started to fall apart at the court appearance where it was expected to be finalized after the judge presiding over the case raised questions about some details. “The agreements are not straightforward and they contain some atypical provisions,” U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika noted, including one that could theoretically protect Biden from other tax-related crimes in the same time period.
Prosecutors said the provision in the diversion agreement would not protect him from different charges, while attorneys for Hunter Biden said it would. Noreika, a Trump-appointed judge, asked both sides for more information, and the agreement — which Republicans were already blasting as a “sweetheart deal” — subsequently fell apart.
In subsequent court filings, Weiss’s office noted that without the plea agreement in place, there were venue issues and the case would most likely have to go to trial in California or Washington, D.C. Prosecutors also suggested that they might bring different charges in the new case.
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Biden was indicted in Delaware federal court on three counts tied to the possession of a gun while using narcotics.
Two counts are tied to Biden allegedly filing a form claiming that he was not using illegal drugs at the time he purchased a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The third count alleges that he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic.
The historic indictment against the son of a sitting president comes after a plea deal that might have ended a years-long probe into Hunter Biden fell apart and just as House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry in an effort to seek bank records and other documents from the president and his son.
The case is being overseen by special counsel David Weiss, who also headed the investigation. Weiss is a Trump appointee who was kept on as U.S. attorney for Delaware because of the sensitive and unique nature of the investigation into a president's son by the Justice Department, a part of the executive branch headed by the president. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss special counsel in August, as negotiations over the tax and gun charges collapsed.
Weiss’s investigation was opened in 2018, the year before Joe Biden announced his candidacy for president, according to a source familiar with the inquiry, and focused on the younger Biden’s finances.
The two sides reached a plea agreement in July which called for Hunter Biden to plead guilty in Delaware federal court to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors recommending a sentence of probation. A separate felony gun charge for illegally owning a Colt Cobra .38 Special handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what’s known as a diversion agreement.
The agreement started to fall apart at the court appearance where it was expected to be finalized after the judge presiding over the case raised questions about some details. “The agreements are not straightforward and they contain some atypical provisions,” U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika noted, including one that could theoretically protect Biden from other tax-related crimes in the same time period.
Prosecutors said the provision in the diversion agreement would not protect him from different charges, while attorneys for Hunter Biden said it would. Noreika, a Trump-appointed judge, asked both sides for more information, and the agreement — which Republicans were already blasting as a “sweetheart deal” — subsequently fell apart.
In subsequent court filings, Weiss’s office noted that without the plea agreement in place, there were venue issues and the case would most likely have to go to trial in California or Washington, D.C. Prosecutors also suggested that they might bring different charges in the new case.
Continues...
Hunter Biden indicted on federal gun charges
The indictment against the president's son comes after a plea agreement on tax and gun charges fell apart in July and amid a probe of his finances by House Republicans.
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