President Joe Bidenโs son
Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of lying about his drug use to
illegally buy a gun, a verdict Democrats may seize upon to counter
Donald Trumpโs claim of a justice system weaponized against him.
A jury in Wilmington, Delaware, federal court found him guilty on all three counts against him, making Hunter Biden the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
A verdict of the 12-member jury must be unanimous on each count.
The
trial followed the May 30
criminal convictionof Trump, the first former U.S. president to be found guilty of a felony and the Republican challenger to Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the
Nov. 5 election.
Trump, convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, accuses Democrats of pursuing that case and three other criminal prosecutions to prevent him from regaining power in his rematch with Joe Biden.
Congressional Democrats have pointed to cases including the Hunter Biden prosecution as evidence that Joe Biden is not using the justice system for political or personal ends, having said last week he would not pardon his son if convicted.
The Hunter Biden case was brought by U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss, a Trump appointee.
Weiss has also charged Hunter Biden with three felony and six misdemeanor tax offenses in California, alleging he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 while spending millions on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other high-ticket items.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to those charges. A trial is scheduled for Sept. 5 in Los Angeles.
The Delaware trial included prosecution testimony by Hunter Bidenโs ex-wife, former girlfriend and sister-in-law, who gave firsthand accounts of his
spiraling addiction in the weeks before and after he bought the gun in October 2018.
Prosecutors also showed text messages, photos and bank records that they said showed Biden was deep in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and knowingly broke the law by answering โnoโ to being a drug user on a government screening form.
Bidenโs lawyers sought to show he was not using drugs when he bought the gun and did not intend to deceive because he didnโt consider himself a drug user when he filled out the form.
The defense called Hunter Bidenโs daughter, Naomi Biden, who testified that her father seemed to be doing well when she saw him shortly before and after he bought the gun.
The sentencing guidelines for the gun-related charges against Biden are 15 to 21 months, but legal experts say defendants in similar cases often get shorter sentences and are less likely to be incarcerated if they abide by the terms of their pretrial release.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenyaโs most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram