Hunter Biden could face charges of illegally possessing a gun while using illegal drugs after a bombshell court filing that revealed prosecutors want to indict him by the end of the month.
The president’s son previously reached a deal that would have allowed him to avoid trial for the firearms charges if he abides by parole conditions over 24 months.
Now, charges that could land him up to 10 years in prison appear to be back on the table, according to Special Counsel David Weiss’s new filing.
The filing read, “The Speedy Trial Act requires that the government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest. The government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date.”
Hunter Biden is also under investigation for his foreign business dealings, which are also the focus of investigations started by House Congressional Republicans.
He was supposed to be spared from serving jail time when Weiss, U.S. attorney for Delaware, and Hunter’s lawyers inked a plea deal where he would plead guilty to two misdemeanor crimes of failing to pay over $100,000 in taxes. Hunter made more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018.
As a part of the plea agreement, he would avoid prosecution for the gun charge if he met specific conditions over 24 months. Hunter lied on an application in 2018 to buy a gun.
A photo of the form shows he responded “no: when he was asked if he was an “unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance.”
Hunter Biden wrote about his extensive drug use during that specific period of his life in Beautiful Things, his 2021 memoir.
Republicans complained the president’s son received a “sweetheart deal”
Washington Republicans complained that the president’s son had received a “sweetheart deal.”
However, it all fell apart in late July when he was in the Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom of the Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika.
Because of Noreika’s probing, a gap was discovered between Hunter’s lawyers and the government’s understanding of the plea deal and whether it provided blanked immunity — essential if it prevented the first son from facing any future federal charges.
Judge Noreika complained Hunter’s lawyers and the U.S. attorney’s office had expected her to “rubber-stamp” the deal.
“I’m not going to say I’m going to accept the agreement. I’m not going to say I’ll deny it,” said Noreika.
The day in court ended with the judge saying she would need more briefings from the parties.
Since Hunter’s defense attorneys argued that despite the broader plea deal falling apart, the gun deal was “valid and binding” because it was already signed.
The deal was further scrutinized when two IRS whistleblowers accused the Justice Department of giving Hunter Biden special treatment.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who President Joe Biden appointed, announced in August that Weiss, who was appointed by Trump but got approval from the state’s two Democratic senators, would be elevated to special counsel.
Promoting Weiss and not bringing in a different special counsel from the outside to manage Hunter Biden’s case raised the eyebrows of some in the GOP in Congress who the plea deal had angered.
“Did they appoint him special counsel so he doesn’t have to testify before the Congress of the United States?” said Republican Senator Chuck Grassley when reacting to the news. “If that’s your game — then I’d say there’s ulterior motives.”
Sen. Grassley pointed out that “you can see this plea agreement that the judge didn’t take raises a lot of questions about him.”
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy also suggested Special Counsel Weiss being elevated was a way to halt ongoing House GOP investigations.
“This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,” said the speaker.
