President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden will be indicted before the end of the month, possibly on a felony firearms charge, according to the Justice Department.
This comes less than a month after Hunter Biden’s plea deal with federal prosecutors fell apart. Under that agreement, Biden was set to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to allegedly fraudulent tax filings and enter a deferment on a felony firearms charge.
In the latest court filing, U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is serving as a newly appointed special counsel, stated, “The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest. The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date.”
Weiss previously said that the same or additional charges will be filed in California or Washington, D.C., where the crimes were committed, instead of Delaware.
Will Hunter Biden be charged with a firearm felony?
The court filing does not state the exact charges that will be filed before the end of September.
Still, Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, pushed back on additional charges being filed, stating that the original plea deal “remains valid and prevents” that, according to The New York Times.
Biden allegedly underpaid his federal taxes by over $100,000 in both 2017 and 2018, the AP reported. He also allegedly lied about his drug usage on a form required for owning a firearm. Biden owned the gun for 11 days in 2018.
His plea deal came under jeopardy when Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned it over the summer and pointed to a congressional investigation into Biden, which was gaining momentum.
“It seems to me like you are saying ‘just rubber stamp the agreement, Your Honor.’ … This seems to me to be form over substance,” she said in July, asking for additional briefs.
A month later, Weiss was appointed as special counsel. He said the negotiations between Biden and federal prosecutors had come to an “impasse.”
Weiss launched the investigation into Hunter Biden in 2018. Recent testimony by IRS whistleblowers alleged that Weiss struggled to bring charges against Hunter Biden forward while being denied special counsel status last year, as the Deseret News reported.
But Weiss said in a letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that he did not request special counsel status, and had only discussed a “potential appointment.”
House GOP dig into Hunter Biden’s negotiations with Justice Department
Meanwhile, House committees on Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight and Accountability are continuing their investigation into Hunter Biden by requesting Biden’s lawyers to hand over confidential communication with the Justice Department, which was leaked to the press, amid the plea deal negotiations.
GOP representatives said in a letter that The New York Times and Politico published detailed accounts of the failed talks and questioned whether the Justice Department handled the plea deal “in an impartial manner,” considering it involves the president’s son.
“There are a limited number of people who would have had access to the documents and communications discussed in these articles ... the Committees believe it is highly likely that these materials were provided to these media outlets by or at the direction of the Biden legal defense team, of which you are or were a member,” the letter said.
It set a response deadline of Sept. 20.