The criminal trial of Hunter Biden on gun charges kicks off next week, with federal prosecutors likely to dissect lurid details of his crack cocaine addiction that could provide fuel for opponents of his father’s presidential reelection bid.
Hunter Biden will be the first child of a sitting president to be a criminal defendant when jury selection begins on Monday.
The son of President Joe Biden has pleaded not guilty to three federal criminal charges related to his 2018 purchase of a .38-caliber Colt revolver.
He was charged in September by U.S. Special Counsel David Weiss with lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought the handgun and with illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018.
The trial comes as Joe Biden, a Democrat, is campaigning for a second four-year term but is struggling to generate voter enthusiasm due to inflation, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and concerns about his age. Biden, 81, is the oldest U.S. president.
