First son Hunter Biden will head to trial on gun charges in Delaware next month, a federal judge confirmed Tuesday, denying efforts by his lawyers to delay the prosecution.
Delaware US District Judge Maryellen Noreika in a status conference rejected the 54-year-old’s request to push the trial until September, which his defense attorneys said was necessary to line up witnesses and go through evidence handed over by prosecutors.
President Biden’s son has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges for allegedly lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a federal form to buy a Colt Cobra revolver that he kept for about 11 days.
Hunter Biden’s bid to delay his federal gun charges case was dismissed. APOn Thursday, the Philadelphia-based US Third Circuit Court of Appeals had also dealt the 54-year-old first son a blow by denying his bid to throw out the case, citing a lack of jurisdiction.
Hunter’s attorneys, led by prominent criminal defense lawyer Abbe Lowell, have argued that prosecutors bowed to pressure by Republicans who accused the Biden scion of of initially striking a “sweetheart deal” to serve no jail time for the gun crimes.
That plea agreement, however, was rejected by ex-defense attorney Christopher Clark in Delaware federal court last year, following a disagreement over the degree to which Hunter would be granted immunity from future prosecution.
Potential charges included violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which two IRS whistleblowers confirmed to House Republicans last year had been part of the five-year Hunter probe.
Special counsel David Weiss went on to indict Hunter twice — in Delaware, for the gun charges; and in Los Angeles, for allegedly evading at least $1.4 million in tax payments between 2016 and 2019.
The three-to-six-day jury trial in Delaware will start on June 3 — despite disagreements over evidence sharing between Weiss’ office and Hunter’s legal team.
Prosecutors in other filings Tuesday revealed that their case would in part rest on Hunter’s 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things” — in which the president’s son admitted to “feeding the beast” of his drug addiction.
Weiss’ team said the drug abuse occurred “before, during, and after the period when he possessed the gun,” according to the excerpts.
They have also requested that Hunter should be prohibited from entering “self-serving” portions of his book into evidence, or else agree to being cross-examined on the witness stand.
If convicted on all counts, Hunter Biden faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.
Los Angeles federal Mark Scarsi also rejected motions from Hunter’s defense lawyers last month to dismiss three felony and six misdemeanor tax charges.
Those rulings have since been appealed to the Ninth Circuit. Hunter is currently scheduled to head to trial in that case on June 20.
With Post wires.
