Joe Biden's Son Hunter Indicted On Gun Charges, First For A US President's Son (Image: twitter.com/ProudElephantUS)
US President Joe Biden”s son, Hunter Biden, on Thursday, has been charged criminally with three counts of lying when buying a firearm in 2018. Biden junior was indicted for illegally buying a gun five years ago, at a time when he admits he was using drugs heavily.
It is the first time in the history that the child of a sitting president has been criminally prosecuted.
According to the indictment filed in the federal court in Delaware, Biden Jr illegally purchased a firearm in 2018 by producing a false statement as he was not using drugs. But he was addicted to crack cocaine then.
The form was produced before the gun shop in Delaware”s city of Wilmington, on October 2018, from where he bought a Colt Cobra Special revolver.
Under US federal laws, it is a crime to lie on such documentation, or possess a firearm while being a drug user.
Biden Jr was “not an unlawful user of and addicted to any stimulant narcotic drug” when he purchased the revolver in 2018, alleged the prosecutors.
Biden Jr, 53-year-old, is also facing investigation on his business dealings and failure in time tax payments. The special counsel overseeing the current case has also indicated that charges of failure to pay taxes on time could be filed in Washington or in California, where he lives.
The indictment comes as congressional Republicans pursue an impeachment inquiry into the Democratic president Joe Biden, in large part over Hunter Biden’s business dealings, says reports. They found evidences about how Hunter Biden used the “Biden brand” to drum up work overseas. But the Republicans failed to produce hard testimony of wrongdoing by the president, reported the Hindustan Times.
The impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden was announced by Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, on September 12, 2023.
According to the justice department, if convicted, Hunter Biden faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are usually less than the maximum possible penalties, reported BBC.
It is still unclear when and where Biden Jr”s initial court appearance will take place.
The charges on him are “influenced by the Republicans” improper and partisan interference in this process”, BBC quoted Biden Jr”s attorney Abbe Lowell.
Biden Jr “did not violate the law and that his brief possession of an unloaded gun was never a threat to public safety”, Mr Lowell added defending his client.
