WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday on all three felony counts related to his purchase of a gun in 2018 while addicted to crack cocaine, dealing a serious blow to his father, President Biden, during a tough reelection campaign.
Biden, 54, kept his gaze forward and did not look at the federal jury of six men and six women as the court clerk read the verdict aloud. He is the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted in a criminal trial.
The jury deliberated for three hours. After the verdict was announced, Biden hugged his attorneys and kissed his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. He left the courthouse holding hands with her and his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden.
Scandalous details of the weeklong trial, coupled with the guilty verdict, hover as a political liability to the 81-year-old president, who is struggling with a bruising reelection campaign. In a statement, the president said he accepted the verdict and would “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
Hours after his son was convicted of lying on a federal firearm application, the president spoke to a gun safety group in Washington and called for stiffer background checks for gun purchases. He did not mention his son’s case publicly.
The president described gun violence prevention as “a passion of mine for a long, long time.” He is making gun control a cornerstone of his reelection campaign. He has pointed to the scourge of mass shootings and bets the issue will win over voters he desperately needs in November.
SEE ALSO: Biden lobbies for tighter gun limits, hours after son’s firearm conviction
“It’s time we establish universal background checks,” Mr. Biden said to cheers.
The president abruptly changed his schedule later in the day to fly back to Wilmington, apparently to comfort his son. Mr. Biden is expected to leave Wednesday for the Group of Seven summit in Italy.
The jury’s verdict doesn’t end the legal trouble for Hunter Biden, who is set to go on trial in federal court in California. He is accused of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes on time. That trial is expected to start in September, just weeks before Election Day. Prosecutors have documented his lavish lifestyle while allegedly dodging tax payments.
Hunter Biden, who did not testify at his trial, said he was “disappointed” by the verdict but was “grateful” for the love and support of his family and friends. He faces up to 25 years in prison, but he is a first-time, nonviolent offender, so a prison sentence is uncertain.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika did not set a sentencing date, but sentencing is typically within 120 days of a guilty verdict.
Hunter Biden almost avoided trials on both the gun and tax charges. Last year, the Justice Department and Hunter Biden’s legal team struck a deal in which he would have to submit to drug testing and probation in exchange for pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. Under the deal, the gun charges would have been deferred and dropped if he stayed out of trouble.
SEE ALSO: ‘All-time low’: Pollster suggests it may be time for Biden to drop out
The deal crumbled under heavy scrutiny of Judge Noreika, who raised questions about certain details.
The conviction closed the curtain on a trial that laid bare some of Hunter Biden’s most embarrassing escapades while in the throes of a crack addiction.
Jurors were shown tawdry photos of the president’s son with drug paraphernalia in a bubble bath. Three former romantic partners testified about Hunter Biden’s reckless spending and how his drug use destroyed their relationships.
Special counsel David Weiss, appointed last year by Attorney General Merrick Garland, brought the tax and gun cases.
“No one in this country is above the law,” Mr. Weiss told reporters after the verdict. “Everyone must be accountable for their actions.”
The verdict was delivered just weeks before the first presidential debate, scheduled for June 27 in Atlanta.
It also complicates Mr. Biden’s labeling of his Republican opponent as a convicted felon who should not return to office. A New York jury last month found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush payments to alleged mistresses. He is the first former president to be convicted of a crime.
Neither candidate seems to have suffered tangibly from the criminal trials. Republican lawmakers are rallying around Mr. Trump, whose campaign fundraising soared after his guilty verdict.
The gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety on Tuesday gave Mr. Biden a hero’s welcome and chants of “four more years” despite his son’s conviction for circumventing background checks.
Republicans immediately signaled that they were not satisfied with the trial’s outcome and argued that Hunter Biden was convicted of the wrong crimes. They have tried to link Hunter Biden’s business dealings to his father, and those attacks will only increase after the verdict.
“This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden crime family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who did not address the merits of the case.
“Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden family criminal empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit,” she said.
The House Republican Conference chair, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, also ignored the gun charges to focus on the Biden family’s business dealings. She vowed to continue the House investigation into the Biden family.
Although Republicans wanted to highlight that Mr. Biden’s son is now a convicted felon, they had to be careful not to undercut their arguments that the Justice Department has been weaponized against Mr. Trump. The Justice Department brought the charges against Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden’s son.
Hunter Biden’s legal problems have long been a major focus for Republicans. After winning control of the House in 2022, Republican lawmakers began investigating his ties to foreign businesses in China and Ukraine. They say the president benefited from his son’s business deals, and they folded that investigation into the president’s impeachment inquiry.
The gun charges stemmed from Hunter Biden’s purchase of a Colt revolver at a Wilmington gun shop in October 2018. At the time, prosecutors said, Hunter Biden was addicted to crack cocaine.
He falsely signed paperwork claiming he did not use illegal drugs and then unlawfully possessed the weapons for 11 days. It is illegal for drug users to possess guns, and it is illegal to lie on gun purchasing forms.
Hunter Biden is expected to appeal the conviction. In pretrial motions, his attorneys argued that the federal law barring drug users from having guns is unconstitutional. Judge Noreika rejected that motion, but it will likely be the basis for the defense team’s appeal.
“We respect the jury process, and as we have done throughout the case, we will continue to pursue all the legal challenges available to Hunter,” defense attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
The president said he would always stand by his son.
“I am the president, but I am also Dad,” Mr. Biden said. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.