On Thursday, a Delaware grand jury indicted Hunter Biden on three gun charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm as a drug user and lying on a form when he allegedly bought the gun.
Thursday’s move is a major development in the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden, which increases his legal and political risks to his father. The court battle comes at the same time as a Republican impeachment inquiry into the president’s business dealings.
The indictment says that when buying guns, people must fill out a form that shows, among other things, that they don’t use illegal drugs. In October 2018, the allegation continued: Biden bought a gun despite being a drug user. He said he had a Colt Cobra revolver for about 11 days, from “on or about October 12, 2018, to “on or about October 23, 2018.”
If convicted, Biden could face up to 25 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. However, sentences are often handed down below the maximum length allowed, and some defendants face no prison time at all.
Attorneys for Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A White House spokesman referred the matter to the Justice Department and the first son’s lawyers for comment.
The president’s son wrote in his memoirs that he regularly used crack cocaine during the period referred to in the indictment. He spoke openly about his struggle with drug abuse, which got worse after the death of his older brother.
The charges could spark a fight over the Second Amendment. His lawyers previously told prosecutors that if he were to face the charges filed today, they would argue that the law banning drug users from owning guns is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts’ conservative majority on the Supreme Court has dramatically expanded Second Amendment rights in recent years, as cited by Biden’s legal team in Justice Department communications.
