Hunter Biden could face trial in Delaware on federal firearms charges as early as June, amid his father’s re-election campaign, Politico informed.
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika set a tentative date during a brief telephone hearing on Wednesday, despite considering several defence motions to dismiss the case against the president’s son that could yet derail any potential trial.
The trial is scheduled on 3 June and could last up to nine days. A separate hearing on the tax charges against him in California is tentatively scheduled to begin later this month.
Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, pleaded not guilty to lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days. He admitted being addicted to substances during that period, but his lawyers argued he did not break the law.
He was charged after a plea deal that would have resolved the case without the spectacular collapse of the trial in July 2023, when the judge who was supposed to approve it raised a number of issues instead. Hunter Biden’s lawyers have since sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that prosecutors succumbed to political pressure after Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, publicly mocked the agreement, calling it a “sweetheart deal.”
They also argue that the immunity provisions of the original deal are still in effect, a position Abbe Lowell’s attorney insisted on in front of the judge on Wednesday.
Noreika stated that she had not yet fully decided how she would handle the four pending dismissal motions, though she wanted to make sure that time for any trial would be available on her schedule.
Prosecutors claimed there was no evidence the case was politically motivated. The evidence against him was “overwhelming,” and the immunity deal collapsed along with the rest of the plea bargain.
Hunter Biden also pleaded not guilty to separate Los Angeles tax charges alleging he used a four-year, $1.4-million tax evasion scheme.
