Hunter Biden to face trial over gun charges after appeal dismissed

Hunter Biden will go on trial in June - the first for a child of a sitting president - after a court dismissed his bid to throw out criminal gun charges.

As well as the charges over his gun ownership, Hunter Biden also faces federal tax charges in California. Picture: AFP

Hunter Biden will go on trial next month after a federal ­appeals court dismissed his bid to throw out criminal charges over his ownership of a gun.

The US President’s son, 54, was indicted in September, making him the first child of a sitting president to face criminal charges.

Prosecutors say that the lawyer and businessman lied on federal firearms forms about his drug use when he obtained a Colt revolver in 2018. In a biography published after the gun was bought he admitted to being ­addicted to drugs at the same time. His lawyers say that he owned the gun for only 11 days and never fired it.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals said on Thursday that an effort by Mr Biden’s lawyers to have the case thrown out was without merit, rejecting a challenge to the charges on procedural grounds. The case, which will be heard in Delaware, will now go to a pre-trial hearing on May 24, before an expected start of the full trial on June 3.

The three-judge panel concluded in a four-page judgment that it would have been improper for it to take up the court’s time with such an appeal.

Mr Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, suggested that his legal team may challenge the ruling. “In reviewing the panel’s decision, we believe the issues involved are too important and further review of our request is appropriate,” he said.

As well as the charges over his gun ownership, Mr Biden also faces federal tax charges in California. Last month, a different federal judge, dismissed a ­motion to dismiss those charges, which relate to failure to pay his taxes and of filing false or fraudulent tax returns.

Congressional Republicans are attempting to prove that Mr Biden used his influence when he was vice-president to further Hunter Biden’s business interests. Picture: AFP

Mr Biden easily had enough money to settle his tax bill ­between 2016 and 2020 but failed to make payments and fraudulently sought to reduce his liability by claiming pornography, escorts, hotels and sex club payments as business expenses, Mr Weiss has alleged.

Mr Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”, he wrote in a 56-page ­indictment filed in the US district court in central California in December.

The tax trial is due to start on June 20. Mr Biden has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges in both cases.

A plea deal that would have seen him admit to some of the counts and avoid prison collapsed last year. Were he to be found guilty on the most serious charges, he could face as long as 17 years in prison.

The President’s son has also become embroiled in an investigation by congressional Republicans, who are attempting to prove that President Joe Biden used his influence when he was vice-president to further Hunter’s business interest, especially those held overseas.

During an appearance before the House of Representatives’s oversight committee in March, Hunter Biden swore under oath that “my father’s never been ­involved in any of my businesses. He’s never taken a role, never had any stake in any of my businesses, or benefited from any of my businesses. And it’s just something that I would not do.”

The Times