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 of 6 men, 6 woman will hear openings Tuesday

A jury of six men and six women is scheduled to hear opening statements Tuesday in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial.

An additional four women were chosen as the alternate jurors.

The jurors include a Secret Service retiree, a man whose father was killed by a gun, and a number of jurors whose family and friends have suffered from addiction -- a central theme in the case against Hunter Biden.

Juror No. 1 is a woman who recently heard about Hunter Biden's case on the evening news. Said said her sister is also an addict, but is "currently clean."

Juror No. 2 is a woman who worked for the Secret Service for nearly 25 years and is now retired. Her husband was a uniformed officer in Washington, D.C.

Juror No. 3 is woman who gets her news from YouTube. When asked what she has heard about the case, she said that it involves guns and drugs.

Juror No. 4 is a woman who said she feels people who smoke weed "should not be allowed" to own a gun, but said she could set that aside.

Juror No. 5 is a currently unemployed man who previously received a DUI for which he pleaded guilty.

Juror No. 6 is a man who said he previously knew about the case. He currently owns three pistols and said, "I believe the Second Amendment is very important."

Juror No. 7 is a man whose father owned a firearm. He said he knows "some" gun laws.

Juror No. 8 is a man whose father was killed by a gun in 2004. He has a brother who was arrested for drug possession and was sentenced to prison.

Juror No. 9 is a woman whose home was burglarized years ago. She purchased a gun and has had it for over 20 years.

Juror No. 10 is a man whose brother and brother-in-law both suffered from alcoholism and are now both deceased. His niece and nephew both own guns.

Juror No. 11 is a woman whose family hunts and has hunting rifles. She said her "childhood best friend" passed away from a drug overdose.

Juror No. 12 is a man whose older brother is an addict who has been to rehab multiple times for PCP and heroin. He said the brother had a gun but he was not sure when.


Jury is seated

The jury of 12 jurors and 4 alternates has been seated in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial.

The panel was picked from 250 prospective jurors who arrived at the courthouse this morning for the voir dire process.


Many prospective jurors know of Hunter Biden's travails

Judge Maryellen Noreika has so far quizzed more than 50 Delaware residents about their fitness to serve as jurors in the first trial of a sitting president's son. And being Delaware -- a small state that Joe Biden represented in the Senate for more than three decades -- nearly all of them had some level of familiarity with Hunter Biden's legal travails.

"I live in Delaware," one prospective juror said. "You can't swing a cat without hearing something."

"Delaware is a small place," another said. "So you hear stuff."

Several jurors said they had heard or read about this trial specifically. Most had only a cursory understanding of the case, but others expressed a detailed accounting of the charges. A few jurors mentioned the ill-fated plea deal that Hunter Biden initially struck with prosecutors last summer.

"At one time there was a deal, and then there wasn't," one man said.

One woman had even read Hunter Biden's memoir, "Beautiful Things," which prosecutors plan to use to help prove their case. She was excused by the judge.

President Joe Biden has emerged repeatedly in questioning, with prospective jurors expressing both positive and negative feelings on his presidency. One woman said she believed that Hunter Biden was facing charges largely because his father is the president.

"I think it was a very strong factor," she said.

Several others have been dismissed for harboring negative views toward the Bidens. Asked for his opinion about the president, one man said, "Not a good one." Another man said, "Negative toward the defendant." Both were excused.

The jury questionnaire also includes several questions about drug and alcohol addiction -- an affliction that many prospective jurors said has personally affected them.

One woman held back tears as she described how her best friend had died of a heroine overdose. Another man said his daughter is a recovering addict.

"Everybody needs a second chance," he said.

Judge Noreika has been pressing ahead, intent on getting a jury seated as soon as possible -- perhaps even by the end of the day.

In addition first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden's wife Melissa, his half-sister Ashley Biden attended court during the morning session, and his confidant and financier Kevin Morris is also in attendance.


President Biden says he has 'boundless love' for his son

President Joe Biden said in a statement issued this morning that he has "boundless love" for his son.

"I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter's resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us," Biden said in the statement as jury selection got underway.

"A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean," the president said.

"As the President, I don't and won't comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength," he said. "Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support."


Family 'fighting off tears' hearing audio from Hunter Biden's memoir

In the first exhibits presented in the government's case, prosecutors played excerpts from the audiobook of Hunter Biden's 2021 memoir "Beautiful Things" -- in which jurors heard in his own words about some of the most personal low points of his yearslong addiction to crack cocaine.

FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, the government's first witness, introduced about a dozen audio excerpts played out over an hour, as Hunter Biden's voice boomed over the courtroom's loudspeakers while his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, and several other members of his family sat in attendance.

"I used my superpower of finding crack cocaine anytime, anywhere," Hunter Biden said of the year 2018 -- the same year he purchased the gun that prosecutors say he lied to get. The audio contained passages in which he spoke about the darkest and most dangerous moments of his addiction -- at one point doing cocaine in the bathroom while on a graduation trip with his daughter. .

Jill Biden and her daughter Ashley Biden sat shoulder-to-shoulder as the clips played out, at times leaning their heads against one another. At one point, as Hunter Biden's voice was heard describing a raucous 12-day bender in Los Angeles, Jill Biden lifted her left arm and draped it around Ashley's shoulders.

A person sitting with the family told ABC News they were both "fighting off tears."

Hunter Biden, for the most part, stared intently into the nearby monitor displaying the book's contents, at one point slightly nodding along as he reheard some of his most painful struggles. The jurors appeared largely engaged, with many taking notes and looking up at the screen to follow along.