Hunter Biden to be Arraigned in Delaware Court in Gun Case – Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is scheduled to appear in a Delaware court for an arraignment. This case, which carries significant political implications amid the 2024 presidential re-election campaign, involves Hunter being the first child of a sitting president to face charges.
He is anticipated to enter a not guilty plea, facing accusations of unlawfully possessing a firearm as an illegal drug user and providing false information about his drug use on a background check form when purchasing a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018. Last month, special counsel David Weiss obtained the indictment following the breakdown of a plea agreement between Hunter and prosecutors in August.
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The Department of Justice has not confirmed whether they will pursue a separate indictment related to misdemeanor tax charges. In the event of a conviction, Hunter could potentially receive a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. However, given his status as a first-time, nonviolent offender who did not employ the gun for criminal purposes, it is probable that a more lenient sentence would be considered.
Hunter, who openly acknowledged previous cocaine use in his memoir, is anticipated to request the dismissal of the gun possession charge from district judge Maryellen Noreika. His argument is likely to center around the assertion that a federal law prohibiting illegal drug users from owning firearms lacks historical precedent and infringes upon his Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” as outlined in the Constitution.
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc v Bruen case, where they established a new standard for assessing the legality of government-imposed gun restrictions, stating they must align with the historical tradition of firearm regulation, could potentially provide an unexpected advantage to him. Abbe Lowell, who is representing Biden as his defense attorney, has hinted at the possibility of challenging parts of the indictment based on the Bruen decision.
In a public statement on the day of the indictment, Lowell said: “We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court.”
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Hunter filed a lawsuit last week against Rudy Giuliani and Giuliani’s former attorney, Robert Costello, alleging that they infringed upon his privacy by allegedly accessing data from his laptop. Republicans have prominently featured Hunter in an impeachment inquiry against the president, but they have been unable to provide compelling incriminating evidence.