The judge overseeing the federal weapons case against eldest son Hunter Biden has ordered the release of search warrants used in two investigations against the heir.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Norieka of Delaware on Friday granted a request by Special Prosecutor David Weiss, now 53, to unseal four search warrants used in the illegal firearms possession and tax evasion investigation. .
The warrant could reveal the legal basis on which federal authorities seized Mr. Biden’s electronic devices and the evidence used to build two criminal cases against him.
The warrant was mentioned in court documents earlier this month in which Weiss’s office opposed Hunter’s bid to have the charges dismissed, prompting independent journalists to call for the warrant to be lifted.
Neither Biden’s legal team nor Weiss’ office opposed unsealing the records. It was not immediately clear when the documents would become accessible.
Two warrants, dated August 29, 2019 and July 10, 2020, were obtained by tax authorities and the FBI to investigate Hunter Biden’s Apple iCloud account. A third search warrant was obtained on December 13, 2019, to investigate the now-eldest son’s infamous laptop.
The fourth warrant was obtained on December 4 of last year and was used to collect electronic evidence related to the gun case. It was almost three full months after the indictment against the eldest son was unsealed.
Hunter Biden is charged with three gun-related felonies for allegedly lying about his drug addiction when purchasing a firearm five years ago.
He was indicted last month on numerous charges in Los Angeles for allegedly evading $1.4 million in federal taxes from 2016 to 2019.
The lawsuits were filed against the younger Biden after a no-jail plea deal unexpectedly fell through during a court hearing in July.
Lawyers for Mr. Biden asked Mr. Noreika in December to drop the firearms charges, saying prosecutors violated a previous agreement between his troubled eldest son and federal authorities.
Weiss’ office responded in a scathing court filing on January 16, saying Biden’s claims that he was using drugs when he acquired the gun and lied about it on his background check form are rock solid. He claimed that there was. The Colt Cobra .38 SPL revolver was thrown into a trash can behind a grocery store in Delaware by his sister-in-law turned lover Harry Biden in October 2018.
“Investigators literally found drugs in the pouch where the defendant kept his gun,” prosecutors detailed.
Hunter also admitted in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” that he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of the gun incident, federal authorities said.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined comment Monday, and Biden’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
