Hunter Biden’s trial will enter its fifth day in Wilmington, Del., on Friday. The president’s son is on trial for three alleged offenses pertaining to his purchase of a gun in October 2018.
The central question is whether he lied by denying he was an addict when he filled out a form in the process of buying the firearm. The charges are lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false statement on the form and illegally being in possession of the gun. The gun was in Biden’s possession for 11 days.
Biden wrote extensively about his struggles with addiction to crack and alcohol in a 2021 memoir. He has pleaded not guilty. If he is convicted, the president’s son could theoretically face up to 25 years in prison.
But such a sentence would be extremely unusual given that he would be a first-time offender and there are no major aggravating circumstances. The prosecution is expected to rest its case on Friday. Here are the main takeaways so far.
Even though Hunter Biden has documented his travails with addiction , the trial has shone a spotlight on grim details that are tough to listen to — especially for the millions of Americans of all political persuasions who have seen family or friends in the grip of drug and alcohol abuse. Texts between Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden included one instance in which he wrote that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack.” They also included messages that, she surmised, alluded to him meeting a dealer and others where he confes.
