Hunter Biden indicted on gun-related charges

Counts punishable by up to 25 years in jail, in first for a sitting president's child

Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, was indicted on Thursday by special counsel David Weiss in the US District Court in Delaware on three counts related to the possession of a gun while using narcotics.

Hunter Biden, 53, was accused of concealing his drug use during a gun purchase in October 2018, according to the indictment filed in the Delaware federal court.

The three criminal counts are related to Hunter Biden's alleged false statements in the purchase of a firearm and illegal gun possession. He will face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

Hunter Biden's lawyers said they will fight the charges in court and accused Weiss of "bending to political pressure" from Republicans.

"As expected, prosecutors filed charges today that they deemed were not warranted just six weeks ago, following a five-year investigation into this case," his lawyer Abbe Lowell said in a statement.

"The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans' improper and partisan interference in this process. Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice," the statement continued.

The charges came after a potential plea bargain with prosecutors failed. The trial dates could potentially coincide with the president's 2024 reelection bid. It is also the first time in US history that a child of a sitting president has been indicted.

Originally, Weiss was contemplating an agreement to recommend a sentence of probation for the two counts of failing to pay taxes on time for 2017 and 2018, in addition to a pretrial diversion agreement not to charge him for lying about being addicted to drugs and alcohol when filling the paperwork to purchase the handgun in 2018.

However, two whistleblowers from the Internal Revenue Service accused the Justice Department of stonewalling the case, and the deal fell apart after much scrutiny from a federal judge.

Weiss has been investigating Hunter Biden since late 2018 over potential felony tax evasion, illegal foreign lobbying, money laundering and other matters, mostly related to overseas business deals.

Casting a shadow

The legal troubles that Hunter Biden faces have cast a shadow over his father's reelection campaign, as congressional Republicans are seeking to connect the Democratic president to alleged wrongdoing by his son in an impeachment inquiry opened two days ago.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally gave the green light on Tuesday to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. McCarthy said the House investigations into the Biden family this year have uncovered a "culture of corruption" that demands deeper review and "these are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption".

The White House has denounced the move.

McCarthy made the decision to impeach the president under pressure from conservative Republicans. They accuse the president of being involved in his son's business dealings through influence-peddling and that he was involved in a bribery scheme when he was vice-president under former president Barack Obama. Democrats have countered that there is no direct evidence linking the president to his son's business dealings.

On Thursday, the president arrived at a college in Largo, Maryland, to give a speech on the economy. The night before, he used the term "not focused" as he brushed aside the impeachment probe launched by Republican lawmakers over his son's business dealings.

He made no mention on Thursday of the fact that his son had been indicted for buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his 2024 reelection campaign.

President Biden also sought to blame the Republicans for the threat of a looming government shutdown at the end of this month.

Meanwhile, the third Republican primary debate in the race to be the party's presidential nominee will be held in Miami, Florida, in early November, a Republican National Committee official said on Thursday.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.