E-Paper
Joe Biden's son Hunter charged: Lied about taking drugs while buying firearms
Joe Biden's son Hunter Indicted: The charges were filed by Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018.
US president Joe Biden's son Hunter was indicted for illegally buying a gun five years ago at a time when he admits he was using drugs heavily. Hunter Biden was charged with two counts of making false statements- claiming on forms that he was not using drugs illegally when he bought a revolver in Delaware. A third charge said that he illegally possessed the gun. This could lead up to 10 years in prison. The charges were filed by Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018.
The indictment came almost two months after a plea deal between Hunter Biden and David Weiss went sour over differences of whether the US president's son could face additional charges.
Read more: Hunter Biden Indictment LIVE Updates: US president's son charged for illegal firearm possession
In the July deal, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two minor tax charges in exchange for probation as he had already paid what he owed the government along with penalties.
In the same deal, David Weiss also agreed to suspend the felony gun charge if Hunter Biden completed “pretrial diversion”- counseling or rehabilitation.
Why did the plea deal collapse?
The deal collapsed over the issue of whether Hunter Biden would have been immune from any other charges also investigated by the special counsel. These could include possible crimes related to his business dealings in Ukraine, China and other countries. Although, David Weiss dropped the tax charges and indicated in a court filing that new charges would be brought in other states as well.
