WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Lawyers for Hunter Biden are expected to appear Friday for a final hearing before the president’s son is expected to stand trial on federal firearms charges in Delaware as his father’s re-election campaign unfolds.
Hunter Biden is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to purchase a gun that he kept in Delaware for about 11 days. He has admitted he was addicted to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers say he did not break the law and that the case is politically motivated.
The two sides have argued in court documents over evidence in the case, including the contents of a laptop he allegedly delivered to a repair shop in Delaware. Defense attorneys question the authenticity of the laptop data in court documents, but prosecutors say there is no evidence the data was compromised and that a protracted battle over it at trial would be a waste of time. The laptop has been a source of controversy for years after Republicans accessed and distributed personal data from it.
Prosecutors also plan to show jurors parts of his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” which chronicles his struggles with alcoholism and drug abuse after the 2015 death of his older brother Beau, who succumbed to brain cancer at age 46 .
Defense attorneys argue that prosecutors are cherry-picking evidence from the book and also want to include more information they chose.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika is expected to preside over the final hearing before the trial is expected to begin June 3 with jury selection.
Hunter Biden is also facing federal tax charges in Los Angeles and will go on trial in that case in September. He is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years while living an “extravagant lifestyle” during a time when he acknowledged struggling with addiction. The overdue taxes have now been paid.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers have unsuccessfully pushed for dismissal in both cases. They have argued, among other things, that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to charge him after a plea deal fell apart in court and was publicly pilloried by Republicans, including Trump, as a “cute deal.”
Trump, who is committed to dethroning the Democratic party President Joe Biden, is facing its own legal troubles. He is charged in four criminal cases, including a hush money trial underway in New York.
The long-running federal investigation into the president’s son appeared poised to conclude with a plea deal last year, but the deal imploded after a judge raised questions about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted.
Under the deal, he would have been on probation for two years after pleading guilty to tax charges. He also would have avoided prosecution on weapons charges if he had stayed out of trouble.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.
