Hunter Biden arrived at court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday for jury selection in a federal gun case against him, and he will have a high-profile backer in attendance. First lady Jill Biden arrived shortly after, entering the courthouse in support of her son, per the AP.
- President Biden is not present, but he released a statement as the trial was to get underway. "I am the president, but I am also a dad," he said. "Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today."
- Hunter Biden, who spent the weekend with his parents, has been charged in Delaware with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase when he was, according to his memoir, in the throes of a crack addiction. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants when he said he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
- Hunter Biden is also facing a separate trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes. Both cases were to have been resolved through a deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a yearslong investigation into his business dealings. But Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the deal, which included a proposed guilty plea to misdemeanor offenses to resolve the tax crimes and a diversion agreement on the gun charge. That meant as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years, the case would have been dismissed.
- This trial isn't about Hunter Biden's foreign business affairs—which Republicans have seized on without evidence to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt. But it will excavate some of Hunter Biden's darkest moments and put them on display. Allies are also worried the trial could become a distraction as President Biden tries to campaign under anemic poll numbers and as he is preparing for an upcoming presidential debate while the proceedings play out.
(The trial comes just days after the
conviction of Donald Trump in his hush-money trial.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
