Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when he lied on a gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
President Joe Biden said in a statement issued shortly after the verdict that he would accept the outcome and “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there’s no guarantee the judge would send him to prison – a sentencing date has not been set.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said they would “continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available.” In a written statement, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but grateful for the support of family and friends.
This comes at a stressful time for Joe Biden, hoping to be re-elected in a second presidential mandate – shortly after his competitor Donald Trump was declared guilty in a hush money trail.
But Hunter Biden also faces a trial in September in California on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes, and congressional Republicans have signaled they will keep going after him in their stalled impeachment effort into the president. The president has not been accused or charged with any wrongdoing by prosecutors investigating his son, points out the AP.
Both Trump and Biden JR have suggested that their convicts were not incidental, but rather part of a greater bias to undermine their afferent campaigns – though Biden has publicly accepted his son’s verdict.
Hunter Biden is Joe Biden’s only living child, after his infant daughter passed away tragically in a car crash, together with Biden’s first wife, and Hunter’s brother Beau passed from cancer several years ago.
