Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, pleaded not guilty to three felony gun charges Tuesday at an arraignment in Delaware federal court.
The first son pleaded not guilty to three counts related to his October 2018 purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver while allegedly being addicted to crack cocaine, CNN reported. Hunter Biden was indicted on Sept. 14 for two counts related to giving false statements about his drug use and a third count for gun possession while he was a known drug user. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for the gun charges. (RELATED: ‘Really Embarrassed To Ask’: Hunter Biden Begged Joe For Cash To Pay For Alimony, Other ‘Financial Issues,’ Texts Show)
My latest: Hunter Biden repeatedly requested cash assistance from his father during a period of financial turmoil in late 2018, newly released texts show.
Read my latest @DailyCaller for more: https://t.co/r1rqQsCMpV
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) October 3, 2023
Hunter Biden’s attorney said in a court filing Sept. 19 he would plead not guilty to the gun charges. The younger Biden’s legal team argued unsuccessfully for their client, who lives in California, to conduct the arraignment by video conference. When he arrived at the courthouse, Hunter Biden appeared to be sporting a new buzz cut alongside a standard suit and tie.
Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s defense attorney, has argued against the constitutionality of Hunter Biden’s gun charges based on a 2022 Second Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court weakening laws seeking to restrict gun possession.
He was expected to plead guilty in July to two tax misdemeanors and sign a pretrial diversion agreement for a felony gun charge. Hunter Biden’s guilty plea deal collapsed when Delaware U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika took issue with an immunity provision tucked into Biden’s proposed pretrial diversion agreement.
Noreika’s questions for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Biden’s defense counsel lead to a disagreement over the scope of Biden’s potential immunity. Hunter Biden ended up pleading not guilty to the two tax misdemeanors, and his legal team continues to argue his pretrial diversion agreement is legally binding. The DOJ said in an August court filing the diversion agreement was never implemented. (RELATED: ‘On Behalf Of The Family’: Hunter Biden’s Uncle Thanked Lawyer Who Allegedly Paid $2 Million Of Hunter’s Taxes)
NEW: Prosecutor who allegedly refused to charge Hunter Biden to testify before Judiciary Committee tomorrow
Read more here w/ @jameslynch32 for @DailyCaller: https://t.co/LbDVF1wDS5
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) October 2, 2023
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss special counsel in August to continue the Hunter Biden case after Biden’s plea deal collapsed and IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler accused DOJ investigators of giving Hunter Biden special treatment under Weiss’ leadership as Delaware U.S. Attorney. (RELATED: Here Are The Biggest Takeaways From Merrick Garland’s Testimony About The Hunter Biden Case)
Weiss filed a motion to withdraw Hunter Biden’s Delaware tax charges when he became special counsel in order to potentially charge the younger Biden in D.C. or the Central District of California. Noreika approved Weiss’ motion in August, and Hunter Biden’s two Delaware tax charges were dismissed without prejudice.
Shapley and Ziegler testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in May and June with detailed accusations of slow-walking and obstruction by DOJ investigators. The pair testified publicly in July, and the Ways and Means Committee released a trove of documents Sept. 27 substantiating the IRS whistleblower testimony.
Hunter Biden is suing the IRS for what his legal team argues constitutes illegal disclosures by the whistleblowers in their testimony and media interviews. The whistleblowers have accused Biden of trying to silence them with the lawsuit.
Hunter Biden is also suing former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and Delaware repairman John Paul Mac Isaac for disseminating the contents of his abandoned laptop. Shapley testified the FBI knew Biden’s laptop contents were real in early 2020 before the New York Post’s reporting on the laptop archive was censored ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Likewise, Hunter Biden is suing former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, whose nonprofit organization posted the entire laptop archive on a publicly available database. The Daily Caller and numerous other media outlets have used the database for reporting purposes.
The House Ways and Means, Judiciary and Oversight Committees are leading the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden in connection with Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the IRS whistleblower testimony. The three committees continue to investigate the IRS whistleblower testimony alongside House Oversight’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business enterprise.
The Biden family and its associates brought in more than $24 million from Ukraine, Russia, China, Romania and Kazakhstan from 2014-19, according to a House memo circulated Wednesday prior to the first impeachment inquiry hearing.