Hunter Biden gun trial: 'Politics never came into play,' juror says after guilty verdict

The president's son was convicted of unlawfully purchasing a firearm.

President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty on three felony counts related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.

The younger Biden, who pleaded not guilty last October after being indicted by special counsel David Weiss, denied the charges. The son of a sitting president had never before faced a criminal trial.

The trial came on the heels of former President Donald Trump's conviction on felony charges related to a hush money payment made to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.


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Jury reaches verdict

The jury in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial has reached a verdict after several hours of deliberation.

The parties are being summoned to the courtroom for the reading of the verdict on the three counts Hunter Biden faces.

The president's son faces two counts related to false statements in purchasing the firearm at the center of the case, and a third count of illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs.


Jury resumes deliberations

The jury has resumed its deliberations in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial.

Before sending them back to deliberate, Judge Maryellen Noreika asked jurors if they had discussed the case with anyone.

They all promised that they had not.


Hunter Biden arrives in court

Hunter Biden entered the Wilmington, Delaware, courthouse as jurors prepared to resume deliberations in his federal gun trial.

He was accompanied, as he has been each day of the trial, by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden.


Jury to resume deliberations

The 12 jury members who for the past week heard vivid and personal details about President Joe Biden's family are set to continue their deliberations this morning in the federal gun trial of his son, Hunter Biden.

In their closing arguments yesterday, prosecutors argued that Hunter Biden lied on a federal gun-purchase form when he said he was not a drug addict, telling jurors "if this evidence did not establish that Hunter Biden was a crack addict and an unlawful user, then no one is a crack addict or an unlawful user."

But defense attorney Abbe Lowell urged the jury to acquit his client, telling them, "We have had Hunter's life in our hands. And now we have to give it to you."

If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison -- though legal experts believe he would not serve time due to his being a first-time, nonviolent offender.

Deliberations are scheduled to resume today at 9 a.m. ET.


Defense calls government's case 'conjecture and suspicion'

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell, in his closing argument, urged jurors to dispense with the government's "conjecture and suspicion" and find his client not guilty on all three counts.

"We have had Hunter's life in our hands" until now, Lowell said, referring to his legal team. "And now we have to give it to you."

Lowell repeatedly referred to prosecutors' case as a "magicians' trick" -- to "watch this hand and pay no attention to that one," as he said -- arguing that prosecutors failed to "fill in the gaps" about Hunter Biden's drug use around the time of his firearm purchase "because they don't have the proof."

Lowell also referred to prosecutors' strategy of showing Hunter Biden's pattern of drug use as an "accordion," meant to "compress" the timeline and make it seem to jurors that he was actively using drugs in October 2018, when he said on a government form that he was not addicted to drugs in order to purchase a Colt handgun.

The defense attorney also attacked some of the tactics prosecutors used, calling their treatment of Hunter Biden's daughter Naomi Biden "extraordinarily cruel" and saying that many of their questions and evidence were introduced with the intention of "embarrassing Hunter."

He also asked jurors to recall gaps in the recollections of Hunter Biden's then-girlfriend Hallie Biden, and suggested they should remember the immunity agreement she struck with prosecutors for her testimony.

"These are serious charges that will change Hunter's life," he said of the three felony charges the president's son faces, adding that "it's time to end this case."

Following Lowell's closing, the government was scheduled to have a short rebuttal, at which point the judge was to finish her jury instructions before the jury gets the case.