US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden is due to appear in federal court in Delaware's Wilmington on Tuesday to be arraigned on firearms charges brought by special counsel David Weiss, CNN reported.
Hunter Biden has been charged for lying on federal firearm forms and illegally possessing a firearm while using illicit drugs.
The charges against Hunter Biden come after a plea agreement between him and federal prosecutors over allegedly failing to pay millions in taxes collapsed in a hearing before a different federal judge in Delaware, who called on Justice Department prosecutors and Hunter’s defence team regarding the full extent of the agreement and its constitutionality, CNN reported.
During the hearing, magistrate Judge Christopher J Burke will present Hunter Biden with the charges he is facing. Prosecutors might also request for setting up certain conditions of his release while he awaits trial, according to CNN report.
In a statement, Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell said when the indictment was announced that his client "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."
Biden's appearance in court comes amid the newly launched inquiry into US President Joe Biden for allegedly profiting off his son's overseas business deals. Although Republicans have not yet provided any direct evidence which shows that Biden benefitted from his son's foreign business deals.
Earlier in September, Hunter Biden was indicted by special counsel David Weiss in connection with a gun he purchased in 2018. The three charges include making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.
Hunter Biden’s gun-related legal case involves a firearm he had bought in October 2018, CNN reported. While purchasing a revolver at Delaware gun shop, he lied on a federal form when he swore that he was not using any illegal drugs although he was struggling with crack cocaine addiction at the time of the purchase.
According to the indictment, he had provided a "written statement on Form 4473 certifying he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious," CNN reported.
David Weiss has been leading the Hunter Biden investigation since 2018. Over the years, the team of Weiss carried out investigation regarding potential felony tax evasion, illegal foreign lobbying, money laundering and other matters, largely related to Hunter Biden’s overseas business deals.
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