Washington [US], September 16: Mr. Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was indicted in connection with allegations of wrongdoing when purchasing guns.
CNN reported on September 15 that Mr. Hunter Biden (53 years old), son of US President Joe Biden, was just indicted by special prosecutor David Weiss, in connection with buying a gun in 2018.
The charges against Mr. Hunter Biden came from Mr. Weiss's investigation in the state of Delaware, President Joe Biden's home state. Mr. Weiss was appointed during the term of President Donald Trump's administration (2017 - 2021).
According to the indictment issued on September 14, Mr. Hunter Biden was indicted on three charges related to buying a gun while using drugs. The first two charges involved providing false information when purchasing a gun, that he was not using illegal drugs at the time. Based on that, the third charge involves him illegally possessing a gun within 11 days. The Department of Justice said that Mr. Hunter Biden "knew clearly that the statement was false" when he bought the Colt Cobra. According to AFP, in theory, Mr. Hunter Biden could face a sentence of up to 25 years in prison if convicted of all three crimes. In reality, these crimes rarely result in a prison sentence. Reuters quoted Mr. Aaron Crawford, presidential history expert at the University of Tennessee (USA), saying that Mr. Hunter Biden is the first case when the child of a sitting US President is indicted.
Despite not providing evidence, many Republicans accused the US Department of Justice of protecting Mr. Hunter Biden, and said that prosecutor Weiss was too lenient with this case. Rep. James Comer welcomed the prosecution, calling it a "very small beginning."
"Mountains of evidence show that Mr. Hunter Biden appears to have committed some serious crimes and the American people expect the justice department to apply the law equally," according to Mr. Comer. Writing on the social network Truth Social, former President Trump said that the above prosecution was "the only crime that Mr. Hunter Biden committed that did not involve Mr. Joe Biden".
Meanwhile, Ms. Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta and former senior advisor to Mr. Joe Biden, wondered why Mr. Hunter Biden was prosecuted. "Can someone tell me how many people have been federally prosecuted for purchasing guns while having substance abuse problems? I don't know the answer, but in over 29 years as an attorney, I've never heard of it," she questioned.
Previously in June, Mr. Hunter Biden agreed to a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to be detained for 2 years and participate in a rehabilitation program to avoid being prosecuted for charges related to tax evasion and gun purchasing . However, the agreement collapsed during the trial on July 26, when the two sides disagreed over whether Mr. Hunter Biden could be prosecuted related to business deals in Ukraine, China and other countries.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
