justice
US special counsel plans to indict Biden’s son in September
Hunter Biden has been under investigation for several years. photo
© Julio Cortez/AP/dpa
Special Counsel Weiss plans to file charges against Hunter Biden by the end of September. The allegation is for illegal possession of weapons. The investigation could influence his father’s election campaign.
The son of US President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden faces indictment soon. Special Counsel David Weiss plans to bring charges against the 53-year-old by September 29, according to US media, citing a communication to the competent court in Wilmington, Delaware.
The subject of the forthcoming charges is illegal possession of weapons, it is said. A planned deal with the public prosecutor’s office had previously fallen through.
First allegations by the public prosecutor in June
Hunter Biden has been under investigation for several years. In June, the Delaware public prosecutor published formal allegations against the president’s son. He is accused of illegal possession of a firearm in 2018 because he concealed his drug addiction when buying the gun. The judiciary also accuses him of not paying the income tax due in 2017 and 2018 on time.
Parallel to the publication of the allegations, the Delaware public prosecutor’s office had made public a possible agreement between the two sides: Hunter Biden had agreed to plead guilty to the tax offenses and to enter into an agreement with certain conditions to a trial with regard to the weapons crime and to avert a possible prison sentence, it was said at the time. However, at a hearing in late July, a judge objected to the agreement and did not approve it. In mid-August, Attorney General Merrick Garland granted investigating prosecutor Weiss the independence of a special counsel.
Republicans exploit investigations
The investigation and a possible trial against Hunter Biden could also have an impact on the election campaign. Joe Biden wants to run again in the 2024 election. It is true that the investigations against his son are not about the President. However, Republicans have repeatedly portrayed the Bidens as a crime family. In the past, the President has dismissed the attacks against himself and his family as a smear campaign.