Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has been indicted by federal prosecutors on three firearm charges. The indictment was filed Thursday by special counsel David Weiss.
Two of the charges stem from a false statement Hunter Biden allegedly gave a gun dealer in Delaware in 2018. In the indictment, Weiss claimed Biden knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement and intended to deceive a gun dealer. Weiss said in the indictment that Biden provided a written statement on Form 4473 certifying he was not an unlawful user of any narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious.
In a third charge, Weiss alleged that Biden knowingly possessed a firearm while unlawfully using a narcotic.
Hunter Biden has acknowledged he has struggled with substance abuse.
Hunter Biden was previously charged with failing to pay more than $200,000 in taxes on more than $1.5 million in income back in 2017 and 2018, and with illegally owning a gun at a time during which he was allegedly addicted to drugs.
He agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses and enter into a pretrial diversion agreement for the felony firearms offense. However, that agreement with prosecutors unraveled when the judge in the case raised concerns about the deal. The judge called the deal "confusing" and "not straightforward."
Under the new firearms charges, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison if he is convicted. However, Weiss notes that "actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties."
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Republicans have been using Hunter Biden's legal troubles against President Joe Biden as he runs for reelection.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would begin an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
"It appears that the president's family has been offered special treatment by Biden's own administration, treatment that not otherwise would have received if they were not related to the president," McCarthy said. "These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives."
President Biden's campaign called the impeachment inquiry "baseless."
"Several members of the Speaker’s own conference have come out and publicly panned impeachment as a political stunt, pointing out there is no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden as Republicans litigate the same debunked conspiracy theories they’ve investigated for over four years," said Ammar Moussa, spokesperson for Biden-Harris 2024.
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