As Hunter Biden prepares for his first criminal trial, scheduled to begin Monday, the federal firearms case stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’s years-long investigation is just one of numerous legal challenges facing his eldest son.
Biden pleaded not guilty to federal firearms charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware after Weiss charged him with making false statements regarding a firearm purchase, making false statements about information required to be kept by a firearms dealer, and possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of or addict to a controlled substance.
Judge bars prosecutors from using salacious evidence in Hunter Biden gun trial
Combined, the charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years probation.
That trial is scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection.
But Biden also faces other federal charges.
Hunter Biden, escorted by attorneys Abe Lowell and Kevin Morris, left the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s vote on a resolution titled “Resolution to Recommend that the House of Representatives Hold Robert Hunter Biden in Contempt of Congress” on January 10 at the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Weiss sued his eldest son in California federal court for allegedly violating federal tax laws.
Biden has pleaded not guilty to those charges, specifically three felony and six misdemeanor counts relating to $1.4 million in back taxes that had already been paid. Weiss alleged a “four-year scheme” in which the president’s son did not pay federal income taxes between January 2017 and October 2020, and also filed false tax returns.
The criminal trial was scheduled for June 20, but Biden’s lawyers have requested that the trial be postponed.
Judge Mark Scarci sided with Biden’s lawyers and moved the tax trial to Sept. 5, when jury selection is due to begin.
In addition to the charges already filed, Biden is also dealing with allegations that he made false statements to Congress.
House Republicans say they have information that “incontrovertibly” proves that First Son lied under oath multiple times during congressional testimony earlier this year.
Hunter Biden speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on December 13, 2023. Biden slammed Republican investigators who have been looking into his business dealings and insisted he would only testify in public before congressional committees. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The House Ways and Means Committee said last month that Biden lied at least three times while testifying.
Hunter Biden tax trial postponed to September
After the article was published, Biden’s lawyer, Abe Lowell, issued a statement denying that any of the three examples were lies.
“Once again, they are grasping at straws to try and twist Hunter’s testimony in an attempt to revive the utterly failed impeachment inquiry,” Lowell said.
But committee Chairman Jason Smith warned that “lying under oath is a felony for which the Department of Justice has prosecuted numerous individuals in recent years, and the American people expect the son of the president of the United States to be held similarly accountable.”
House Republicans say Hunter Biden lied multiple times in sworn testimony before Congress
House Republicans argue Biden misrepresented his role working for his company, Rosemont Seneca, and that he actually controlled bank accounts that he claimed in his testimony he did not have.
And while Biden has claimed he did not help foreigners obtain visas, the committee said emails between Biden and a former colleague, Devon Archer, show his eldest son helped a man named Miguel Aleman obtain visa paperwork.
Hunter Biden was photographed after making a statement during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol about publicly testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The committee also pointed to claims that Biden had been drinking and texted the wrong “Mr Zhao,” but WhatsApp records showed Biden only spoke to one person, Henry Zhao of the Chinese energy company CEFC.
In a WhatsApp message, Biden reportedly told his Chinese business partner at Chinese energy company CEFC that he and his father “will regret it if you don’t follow my instructions.”
Biden requested the transfer of $10 million for Sinohawk Holdings, a joint venture with CEFC.
“I’m sitting here with my father, and I want to understand why the promises weren’t fulfilled,” Biden told Henry Zhao, a director at Chinese asset manager Harvest Fund Management. “And Z, if I get a call or an email from anyone other than you, Zhang or the chairman, I will ensure that the man sitting next to me and everyone he knows, and my ability to hold a grudge forever, regrets your failure to follow my instructions.”
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“CEFC intends to assist the families,” Zhao replied.
House Republicans have yet to take any steps to hold the elder son accountable for those alleged lies, nor have they taken any formal steps to charge him with making false statements to Congress.
Biden testified earlier this year before the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees as Republican lawmakers investigate his overseas business dealings and whether his father, President Biden, personally benefited from those arrangements.
