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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No sentencing date set

Hunter Biden sat expressionless as a court officer read the jury’s verdict form aloud to the court. After the third "guilty" rang over the courtroom speakers, he turned and hugged a member of his legal team and remained seated until jurors stood to leave.

Prosecutors Leo Wise and Derek Hines sat equally motionless throughout the short proceeding.

After Judge Maryellen Noreika excused jurors, she said she would get back in touch with the parties to schedule a sentencing date in the next 120 days. Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though legal experts believe he would not serve time as a first-time and nonviolent offender.


Hunter Biden found guilty on all 3 counts

President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty on all three counts in his federal gun case.

He stands convicted of two counts related to false statements in purchasing the firearm at the center of the case, for saying on a federal gun-purchase form that he was not addicted to drugs at the time of the purchase, and a third count of illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs.


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.


Defense shows only 2 October texts referenced drugs

Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, questioned FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop, which prosecutors entered into evidence yesterday, asking her on cross-examination if she had done an "analysis" of whether "data" or "content" of the laptop was "tampered with, added to, or subtracted" during the months that passed between when Hunter Biden dropped off the device for service in April of 2019 and when the FBI obtained it in December 2019.

Jensen said she had not.

Lowell also took aim at the numerous text messages prosecutors have presented as evidence of Hunter Biden's drug addiction in 2018 and 2019.

Lowell showed that only two messages among the several alluding to drug use, drug paraphernalia, and drug purchases occurred during October of 2018 -- the period during which Hunter Bidden procured the firearm. The rest were either other months before the incident or months afterward, Lowell showed.

"You don't see any references … to baby powder?" Lowell asked Jensen, before ticking through other drug terms that appeared in the messages earlier in 2018 or later in 2019, including "chore boy" and "party favors."

Each time, Jensen replied "No."

Lowell also questioned Jensen about two messages Hunter Biden sent around the time of his gun purchase that did allude to drug use, one of them referring to an alleged drug dealer named "Mookie" and other referencing "smoking crack on a car" in Wilmington. Lowell sought to establish that Jensen had no firsthand knowledge about the contents of the messages.

"Do you know if there is a person named Mookie?" Lowell asked.

"No," Jensen replied.

"Do you know if he was on a car smoking crack?" Lowell asked later, referring to Hunter Biden.

"No," Jensen said.

Lowell subsequently ended his cross-examination of Jensen, and prosecutors undertook their redirect examination.