Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges: NPR

Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, leaves after his court appearance July 26 in Wilmington, Del.

Julio Cortés/AP

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Julio Cortés/AP

Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, leaves after his court appearance July 26 in Wilmington, Del.

Julio Cortés/AP

Hunter Biden was indicted on felony gun charges weeks after a plea deal between President Biden’s son and prosecutors collapsed.

Special Counsel David Weiss charged the younger Biden with one count of making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, one count of making a false statement relating to information required to be maintained by a licensed gun dealer federal firearm and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

The development comes a month after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss as a special counsel in the investigation into the president’s son.

Earlier this year, Biden agreed to plead guilty to two minor misdemeanors related to his federal income tax filing. Federal authorities also charged him with a gun crime, for which he agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement that allows him to avoid prosecution. But that agreement collapsed in July when the judge in the case said she was not ready to accept the plea deal and demanded that lawyers for both sides clarify that the agreement does not confer not the broad immunity offered to Biden from prosecution over his business dealings.

The White House declined to comment on the accusations, referring reporters to the Justice Department and Hunter Biden’s personal representatives, and noting that it is an independent investigation.