Hunter Biden, the son of incumbent US President Joe Biden, was found guilty in federal court of two felony counts of making false statements and one count of illegal possession of a firearm. He is the second major figure in US politics to be convicted in criminal court in quick succession. President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May, becoming the first US President with a criminal conviction. Hunter Biden was found guilty on 11 June, making him the first son of a sitting US President to be convicted.
Hunter Biden’s case originates from his purchase of a .38 calibre Colt Cobra handgun in Delaware in 2018. While purchasing the firearm, he claimed on a form that he was not having any substance abuse problems. That was false, given that he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time, and had been to rehab six times, as he later admitted in court during the investigation. Given that federal laws prohibit drug users from owning firearms,
Hunter Biden was convicted on an additional charge of prohibited possession.
Interestingly, Biden’s legal team cited the 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs. Bruen Supreme Court decision ruling New York State’s requirement for a ‘proper cause’ for obtaining a concealed carry permit unconstitutional. Democrat lawmakers heavily criticized the Supreme Court for its decision at the time, given that their party has been heavily pushing for stricter gun control for a long time. Yet Hunter Biden, son of a Democrat president, was appealing to his Second Amendment rights to avoid a conviction. In fact, his father President Joe Biden was making a speech in favour of a national assault rifle ban at the Gun Sense University conference when his son’s guilty verdict was announced.
President Biden commented on the verdict in a written statement, saying that he would ‘accept the outcome of this case and…continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal’. Previously, he had also stated that he would not pardon his son in case he was found guilty. However, some speculate that this does not rule out him commuting the sentence.
Back in July, Hunter Biden was ready to enter a plea deal with the prosecution. However, that deal fell through after the judge found that there was no clear understanding of whether that deal shielded the defendant from other potential charges for other illegal conduct.
Hunter Biden is not only in trouble with the law for his possession of a firearm while being a drug addict. He was also charged with two counts of tax evasion. After his plea deal was thrown out, he is expected to be tried in that case in September of this year, just two months before his father is standing for re-election.
Juror Misconduct in the Trump Case?
We have an interesting update on the other major political case. Judge Merchan flagged a comment made on Facebook by a user named Michael Anderson. Anderson wrote, ‘My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!’ The judge informed both the defence and the prosecution about the developments.
It is unclear whether the post was written before or after the verdict was announced on 30 May. The post under which the comment was made had been made public before the verdict, however, on 29 May. The court is currently investigating when exactly that—now deleted—comment was made, and if the author has any actual connections to any of the jurors. If both conditions apply, it would likely be grounds for a mistrial, and we could see President Trump’s conviction annulled pending a re-trial.
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