WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and his top advisors will closely monitor his son’s developments Hunter Biden‘s criminal trial for a gun crime in Delaware will begin in early June, but for different reasons.
Biden, who will travel abroad during part of the trial, will be watching the process primarily as a concerned parent, rather than as an incumbent candidate seeking re-election during a crucial part of the campaign, he said. three people familiar with the president’s thinking. His advisers will partially oversee cases in which the president is mentioned during the proceedings, and they plan to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to respond in real time, according to two people familiar with the plans.
The likelihood that the president will be invoked seems high, as it is expected that Hunter Biden’s text messages, including some conversations with his father, will be used during the trial. The case is also expected to bring some of the deeply personal dynamics of the president and his family into the public eye, with prosecutors planning to call Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and his late brother Beau’s widow to testify . And some of Hunter Biden’s lowest moments while in the grip of drug addiction, which for years have been fodder for Republican critics of his father, are expected to be graphically cataloged.
“The unknown certainly brings stress,” a Biden adviser said.
At a hearing on Friday in Delaware ahead of the June 3 trial, Hunter Biden’s lawyers will argue for the exclusion of any evidence in the case.
The confluence of political crosscurrents surrounding the Hunter Biden trial is unprecedented. It is the first time that the child of a sitting president has been charged. The process begins five months before the presidential election. And it will begin just after presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump — the first former president to be tried on criminal charges — may receive a verdict in his hush-money trial in New York.
Still, there are no formal plans for the White House or the 2024 team to mount a rapid response operation during Hunter Biden’s legal proceedings, according to five people familiar with the current strategy.
The goal is to be “intentionally understated,” one of those people said, making clear that Hunter Biden is a private citizen facing charges stemming from a time in his life when he was addicted to drugs. Hunter Biden also has his own legal defense team and communications professionals who can speak on his behalf, which the president’s aides consider the preferred approach, this person said.
The White House Counsel’s Office does not intend to invoke any form of privilege or attempt to intervene when it comes to the inclusion of text messages in the lawsuit that Hunter Biden and his father filed during the case relevant period of October 2018, according to a source familiar with the White House plans. The source said any text messages between the president and his son that are made public in court are expected to reflect a father’s concern for his son during a turbulent period of his life.
“For the president and first lady, it’s really about being there for their son as parents and showing him love and support,” a White House official said in response to this story. The Biden campaign declined to comment.
More than 2,500 text messages between Hunter Biden and others could emerge during the trial, according to a recent court filing. Which messages will be admitted as evidence is still being negotiated between the parties.
The Delaware lawsuit is just the first Hunter Biden faces. Another trial in California, currently scheduled to begin in September, focuses on tax charges arising from the same investigation, which began in 2018 and was overseen by David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for Delaware. The Biden administration kept Weiss in place after taking office to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Attorney General Merrick Garland granted Weiss special counsel status last August when Weiss requested it after the collapse of a plea deal with Hunter Biden.
Weiss’ prosecutors appeared to recognize that a perception of political motivations could be a problem for a potential jury. Their proposed questions for jurors in the upcoming Delaware gun trial include: “Do you believe Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case because his father is the President of the United States and a candidate for President?”
For the president, the trial of his son fuels fears that he could backslide under the pressure of a trial that could result in a prison sentence and political attacks from Republicans.
“It affects him as a father, but not as a president or as a candidate,” said one of the people familiar with the president’s thinking.
Some of the concerns stem from Hunter Biden’s lack of income. Hunter Biden’s lawyers and allies are exploring whether to set up a legal defense fund to help cover legal costs, which was previously considered late last year, NBC News reported.
The trial also begins just a few days after the nine-year anniversary of his death Beau Bidenthe president’s son who died of brain cancer on May 30, 2015.
Biden aides hope voters will view the Hunter Biden trial as a complex family matter and note that some of them may even have relatives or friends who have battled substance abuse.
During Hunter Biden’s legal ups and downs in recent years, the president and first lady have repeatedly said they support their son.
“I trust him. I have confidence in him. And it affects my presidency because it makes me proud of him,” Biden told MSNBC last May.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
