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The trial of Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, who is accused of illegal possession of firearms, began on Monday, and after the confirmation of the jurors, the actual hearing was held on Tuesday in the federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, five months before the trial. According to news.ro, AFP reported that he hopes his father will be elected for a second term in office.
Hunter Biden, 54, who has recovered from years of drug and alcohol addiction, is one of the favorite targets of his father’s Republican opponents, starting with Donald Trump, who see him as Joe Biden’s Achilles’ heel.
Last week, a New York court ruled that Donald Trump falsified accounting records to hide a $130,000 payment to a porn star at the end of his 2016 presidential campaign to avoid a sex scandal, an unprecedented ruling for a former US president.
The first day at the court in Wilmington, Biden’s stronghold in Delaware on the East Coast of the United States, ended with jury selection. Hunter Biden can count on the support of his family, including his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and his mother-in-law, Jill Biden, who both attended the hearing.
“As president, I will not comment on ongoing federal litigation, but as a father, I have infinite love for my son, I trust him, and I respect his strength,” Joe Biden said in a statement.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to charges that he lied on forms to buy guns in 2018 and denied a drug addiction he later acknowledged.
The jury must decide on two counts of lying about required documentation to buy a revolver in 2018 and a third count of illegal possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors are expected to push back on that timeline because Hunter Biden claimed he recovered from drug addiction in 2019, but he did not check the “addict” box on the form when he bought a gun in 2018. The defense said he did not believe he was addicted at the time, so it was not a lie.
If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, but in reality such trials rarely result in life sentences.
Hunter Biden was also charged with tax fraud last December for using the “scheme” to avoid $1.4 million in taxes. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, which will go to trial in September in California (West), where he currently lives.
The two lawsuits could interfere with efforts by Joe Biden, who is running for reelection, to contrast himself with his Republican opponent, who faces four separate criminal indictments.
Debates during the trial will surely focus on Hunter Biden’s book, Beautiful Things (2021), in which he recounts drinking vodka straight from the bottle, walking through seedy mini-marts at night in search of crack cocaine, his unsuccessful attempts at rehab, and his brief affair with his brother’s widow.
He was first a lawyer and later a businessman, and turned to painting after he recovered from drug and alcohol addiction.
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