Hunter Biden on trial: “He lied about drug addiction to buy a gun”

It starts today, a few days after the conviction of Donald Trumpthe process against Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son who will have to answer, in a court in Wilmington, the Delaware stronghold of the family, to three counts of violation of the rules on the possession of weapons, that is to say having purchased, falsely declared, and stored, a weapon while he was a drug addict. The trial, in which around ten people are called to testify, including three ex-girlfriends of the accused, will last one or two weeks. His memories will be brought as evidence (“Beautiful Things: a Memoir”) in which he admits his descent into hell, and his laptop, with ‘sexually explicit’ photographs and compromising emails. If he is found guilty on all three counts, he could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. And in September, a few weeks before the elections, a second trial against him will begin in Los Angeles: the charge is tax evasion, false tax returns, and failure to return taxes within the time required by law.

The case in court from today was followed by special prosecutor David Weissappointed by the Department of Justice, to examine the various cases opened against the 54-year-old Hunter who pleaded not guilty to all three charges brought against him, despite having admitted to having been addicted to alcohol, crack and cocaine. Weiss is the former “Attorney” of Delaware appointed by Trump and then called by “Attorney General” Merrick Garland to “special counsel” last year after Hunter Biden had sensationally blown up a plea agreement. When you buy a gun in the United States, you must sign a form from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stating that you are authorized to do so. Hunter Two of the charges against Hunter Biden concern making a false statement in response to a question about drug addiction, to which he responded negatively. The third charge concerns possession of the weapon: it is in fact a federal crime to possess one, as he did for 11 days in October 2018, before his partner threw it away, worried about his mental health if you are addicted to drugs. Hunter previously testified that he has been “clean” since May 2019. Testifying to Hunter’s abuse will be Hunter’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, his brother’s widow, Hallie Biden, with whom Hunter had an affair after Beau and Lunden’s deaths. Roberts, the mother of one of his children.

Weiss denies accusations that he wanted to politicize the case, under pressure from republicans, as “fiction destined for a Holywood screenplay”. The judge, Maryellen Noreika, a former patent lawyer, was nominated by Trump but with the support of Delaware’s two Democratic senators. The Senate approved her nomination in 2018 with a unanimous vote. The President, who is running for a second term in the elections on November 5, has the right, in the event of conviction, to pardon his son or commute his sentence. But he has made it clear that he has no intention of exercising this prerogative and his Administration has spoken out against the ongoing battle in court over the legitimacy of the law which prevents those with drug problems from owning a gun, contrary to when Hunter’s lawyers argue that the rule violates the Second Amendment. Never in the history of the United States has a close relative of a President been on trial for criminal offenses. Just as there has never been a former President (or a presidential candidate) convicted, as happened to Biden’s challenger, Trump. Hunter admitted responsibility last December for “mistakes made in his life and for throwing away the opportunities and privileges he had been afforded.” But he accused the lawmakers of the “Maga right” (Make America Great Again, ed)” of “ridiculing him for his addictions and belittling his recovery.” “They tried to dehumanize me, embarrass me and harm my father.” Hunter also pointed the finger at a store where he had taken the laptop to repair having manipulated it to add compromising information.