WASHINGTON — First son Hunter Biden joined his father aboard Air Force One on Friday as President Biden returned to the White House one day after former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal conviction in New York and three days before Hunter himself stands trial on federal charges in Delaware.
Hunter, 54, grinned slightly as he approached the presidential jet at Dover Air Force Base alongside wife Melissa Cohen and their 4-year-old son, Beau, after spending the night in Rehoboth Beach — with Hunter carrying young Beau up the steps of the plane.
Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen approach Air Force One on the tarmac of Dover Air Force Base. AFP via Getty ImagesGuests of the president on Air Force One sometimes board early to avoid being seen by the traveling press pool if they so choose, rather than strutting the tarmac in front of a dozen reporters and photographers.
President Biden has not yet publicly commented on the conviction of his predecessor and general election rival — after Trump on Thursday claimed the guilty verdict was part of a Democratic plot to aid the 81-year-old president.
Hunter goes on trial beginning Monday on three federal counts related to his purchase and possession of a .38-caliber Colt revolver in October 2018. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
The first son is accused of lying about his drug addiction on federal paperwork — a crime that has resulted in prison time in other cases.
President Biden and Hunter have spent lots of time together ahead of the trial, with father and son loading into a motorcade Thursday morning at Joe Biden’s Wilmington, Del., home and attending a church service with other family members on the ninth anniversary of the death of the president’s elder son, Beau.
Hunter joined his dad on the plane three days before his first federal trial. REUTERSHunter then joined his dad aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One, for a Thursday morning flight to Rehoboth, where the president has a vacation home.
Joe Biden has attracted attention for his interactions with relatives ahead of the gun trial.
On Sunday, the president made a surprise visit to the home of Beau’s widow, Hallie Biden, who dated Hunter after his brother died, and who is one of a dozen expected witnesses at the trial.
Hunter Biden spent Thursday with his father in Wilmington, Del., and then Rehoboth Beach before catching the flight to DC. AFP via Getty Images
President Biden has not yet commented on his predecessor Donald Trump’s criminal conviction. AFP via Getty Images
Hunter Biden faces a second criminal trial in Los Angeles for failing to pay taxes on foreign income in dealings that allegedly involved his father. AFP via Getty ImagesHallie disposed of the gun in a public dumpster days after its purchase. Prosecutors say the gun’s holder tested positive for cocaine, which the first son admitted in his 2021 memoir he was abusing at roughly the same time as he denied drug use on the gun purchase form.
Hunter also is scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles on Sept. 5 for allegedly failing to pay more than $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019 on income received from foreign relationships in which he frequently involved his father, including during Joe Biden’s vice presidency.
Hunter agreed to a probation-only plea bargain to gun and tax crimes last June, but walked away from the deal over courtroom demands for broad immunity for past conduct, including possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act — which could implicate his father.
