Jury begins deliberations in Hunter Biden gun case
![Hunter Biden (R), son of US President Joe Biden, exits the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 10, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. Jury deliberations began on Monday in Hunter Biden's trial on federal gun charges, US media reported. Biden, 54, the son of US President Joe Biden, is accused of lying about his illegal drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018.](https://globalnation.inquirer.net/files/2024/06/000_34WB24K-620x414.jpg)
Hunter Biden (R), son of US President Joe Biden, exits the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 10, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. Jury deliberations began on Monday in Hunter Biden’s trial on federal gun charges, US media reported. Biden, 54, the son of US President Joe Biden, is accused of lying about his illegal drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018. (AFP)
Drug addiction
In addition to being a political distraction, Hunter Biden’s legal woes have reopened painful emotional wounds for the family from his time as a drug addict. His brother Beau died from cancer in 2015, and his sister Naomi died as an infant in a 1972 car crash that also killed their mother, Neilia, Joe Biden’s first wife. The Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist is charged with falsely stating when buying a .38 caliber revolver in 2018 that he was not using drugs illegally. He is also charged with illegal possession of the firearm, which he had for just 11 days in October of that year. The president’s son, who has written unsparingly about his addiction, claimed that at the time he bought the revolver he did not consider himself to be an addict. Among those testifying during the trial were Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, his brother Beau’s widow Hallie Biden and his daughter, Naomi Biden. If found guilty, Hunter Biden could face 25 years in prison, although as a first-time offender jail time is unlikely. Hunter Biden has long been the target of hard-right Republicans, and Trump allies have investigated him at length in Congress on allegations of corruption and influence-peddling. No charges have ever been brought. Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China and Ukraine have also formed the basis for attempts by Republican lawmakers to initiate impeachment proceedings against his father. Those efforts too have gone nowhere. The White House has said there would be no presidential pardon for Hunter Biden in case of a conviction.
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