A federal gun case involving first son Hunter Biden will be tried next month after a judge on May 14 denied a motion to postpone the trial.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika denied Mr. Biden’s motion to postpone the Delaware trial until September, which the defense had argued was essential for gathering witnesses and reviewing the evidence presented by the prosecution.
The judge expressed her confidence that “everyone can get done what needs to get done” before the trial begins on June 3.
The son of President Joe Biden was indicted in September 2023 on federal firearms charges, accused of lying about his drug usage in October 2018 on a form to purchase a gun he allegedly concealed for 11 days. His attorneys claim he did not violate any laws during that time, despite his admitting to a crack cocaine addiction. He pleaded not guilty.
Separately, he is facing charges in a California tax case that is expected to be tried in late June. Mr. Biden was not present for the hearing on Tuesday, as it was not necessary for him to be there.
In the gun case, according to court documents filed on Tuesday, Special Counsel David Weiss’s team intends to show jurors excerpts from “Beautiful Things,” the president’s son’s memoir that was published in 2021.
In the memoir, Mr. Biden details his struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse after the death of his older brother, Beau, who passed away from brain cancer at the age of 46. Mr. Hunter Biden has stated that he has not used any substances since 2019.
During a hearing that took place in Delaware federal court, Mr. Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, related to the judge that many of the experts approached by the defense have been unwilling to appear in the case, noting the attention it has received from the media.
The allegation that media attention was to blame was met with resistance by the prosecutor, Derek Hines.
“It’s written in his memoir. He was in active addiction,” Mr. Hines said. “ I don’t know what expert they can find who will say he wasn’t. I think that’s the issue they’re having.”
Mr. Lowell stated that he was not looking for an expert to contradict his client’s addiction issues; rather, he wanted to explore the ability of someone to identify that they are an addict at the moment that they are experiencing it.
The defense has contended that prosecutors gave in to Republican pressure, which asserted that preferential treatment had been extended to the son of the Democratic president and that the indictment was prompted by political demand.
Last month, however, Judge Noreika, a President Donald Trump appointee, refuted the allegation that the prosecution is politically motivated, in addition to other attempts to vacate the case.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the case may proceed to trial. However, Mr. Lowell stated on Tuesday that they would continue to pursue his appeal.
Had the first son remained out of trouble for two years, he could have avoided prosecution on the gun charges and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax charges last year.
The agreement, which concluded a years-long investigation by federal prosecutors into the president’s son’s business dealings, would have prevented criminal proceedings and spared him weeks of publicity ahead of the 2024 election.
However, the agreement came to an end when the judge, who had been expected to certify it, instead presented a sequence of inquiries about the deal.
In the Delaware case, Mr. Biden is accused of two counts of providing fraudulent information: first, by indicating falsely that he was not addicted to drugs on a checkbox, and second, by delivering that information to the shop for its federally mandated records.
A third count alleges that despite being aware of his drug use, he possessed the firearm for approximately eleven days.
Mr. Biden is accused of three felonies and six misdemeanors in California related to at least $1.4 million in taxes owed between 2016 and 2019. Instead of paying his taxes, prosecutors have accused him of spending lavishly on an “extravagant lifestyle.”
