Opening statements are expected to begin in the case of United States v. United States. Hunter Biden Tuesday morning.
hearing of the case eldest son The trial began Monday in the U.S. District Court for Delaware in Wilmington.
Jury selection lasted a few hours, and a final jury of 12 jurors and four alternates was seated Monday afternoon.
Hunter Biden’s criminal trial on federal gun charges begins with jury selection
Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is presiding over the trial, instructed jurors not to talk about the case while they were on the jury and to keep an open mind.
Hunter Biden arrives in federal court on the first day of his trial on criminal gun charges on June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
During the selection process Monday, nearly all of the potential jurors said they know someone who has been or currently is suffering from substance abuse or addiction.
Nearly every potential juror also said they had heard about the Hunter Biden case in the news.
Judge blocks prosecutors from using some pornographic evidence in Hunter Biden’s gun trial
Opening statements will be given by government prosecutors from the office of special counsel David Weiss. Hunter Biden’s defense attorney is Abbe Lowell.
The first son’s trial is the result of a years-long investigation by special counsel David Weiss.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges in Delaware, as Weiss accused him of making false statements in the purchase of a firearm; making false statements concerning information required to be maintained by a licensed firearms dealer; and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Combined, the maximum sentence for these charges is 25 years in prison. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Hunter Biden was accompanied on the first day of the trial by his stepmother, First Lady Jill Biden. Monday was the First Lady’s 73rd birthday.
His sister Ashley Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen also attended the hearing on Monday.
First Lady Jill Biden arrives ahead of Hunter Biden’s trial in federal court on June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
According to the Washington Post, Hunter greeted his mother with a joke at the start of the proceedings.
“Happy birthday. I have a special event planned for you,” he reportedly said.
After this both of them reportedly started laughing.
President Biden did not attend his son’s trial but issued a statement.
Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to federal gun charges in special counsel David Weiss’ investigation
“I’m president, but I’m also a father,” President Biden said in a statement Monday. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of who he is today. Hunter’s perseverance in the face of adversity and his strength in his recovery are inspiring to us.”
“So many families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and they know what we mean. As President, I do not and will not comment on pending federal cases, but as a father, I have boundless love for my son, trust in him, and respect for his strength. Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I will continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”
Last year, in a rare interview before his son was charged in May 2023, the president Biden said“My son has done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have total confidence in him, and that affects my presidency, because it makes me proud of him.”
Meanwhile, the trial begins nearly a year after Noreca questioned the agreement between prosecutors and Hunter Biden, which later fell apart.
Ashley Biden, daughter of President Biden, hugs a police officer as she leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building during her brother’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware, June 3, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The agreement was criticised as “Dear” deal The proposal, passed by congressional Republicans, appears to grant the president’s son broad immunity from a number of potential criminal charges.
According to the indictment, Hunter Biden purchased a Colt Cobra revolver on October 12, 2018, and “knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement, with the purpose and probably intent to deceive that dealer with respect to factual information regarding the lawfulness of the sale of the firearm … certifying that he was not an unlawful user of and addicted to any stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious.”
The indictment also accuses Hunter Biden of possessing the gun for nearly a week, which was “shipped and transported via interstate commerce” while he was high on drugs.
Fox News first reported in 2021 that police had responded to a 2018 incident when a gun owned by Hunter was thrown into a trash bin outside a market in Delaware.
Hunter Biden arrives with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, at federal court on June 3, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A source with knowledge of the October 23, 2018 police report told Fox News that it indicated that Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s late son, Beau, and who was in a relationship with Hunter at the time, had thrown one of Hunter’s guns into a trash can behind a market near a school.
Hallie Biden may be required to testify during Hunter Biden’s trial.
Firearms transactions Reports reviewed by Fox News showed that Hunter purchased a gun earlier that month.
When Hunter was asked in connection with the firearm transaction report if he was “an illegal user of or addicted to marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug or any other controlled substance, he answered in the negative.”
Hunter was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.
Noreika ruled before the hearing that Weiss’ team could not use certain salacious evidence in Hunter’s criminal trial, including references to his dismissal from the Navy and a child support case for his extramarital daughter in Arkansas.
Hunter Biden tax trial postponed until September
Noreika also said Weiss would have to show that Hunter Biden was a drug user, but not that he was using drugs on the day he purchased the gun.
Noreka said the government could use the portion of Hunter Biden’s book in which he discussed his drug addiction.
President Biden and his son Hunter disembark from Air Force One at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, February 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The prosecution does not plan to unveil the entire infamous laptop containing details of Hunter Biden’s life, but will introduce excerpts. Noreka ruled that Hunter Biden’s team is allowed to question aspects of the laptop in front of the jury. The laptop, leaked in 2020 just before the presidential election, was denounced as Russian disinformation by 51 former intelligence officials.
Noreca also ruled that the special counsel cannot mention Hunter Biden’s pending federal tax lawsuit in California during the trial in Delaware, which is also part of Weiss’ investigation and is scheduled for a hearing in September.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to those charges, specifically three felonies and six misdemeanors related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes that have been paid. Weiss alleged a “four-year scheme” in which the president’s son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 and also filed false tax reports.
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Judge Mark Scarsi heard arguments during a pre-trial hearing in California last month. The criminal trial was scheduled for June 20, but Hunter Biden’s lawyers requested the hearing be postponed.
Scarsi sided with Hunter Biden’s lawyers and moved the tax trial date to September 5, when jury selection will begin.
