(NewsNation) — Hunter Biden was found guilty in his 2024 federal gun trial in a Wilmington, Delaware courtroom. The trial came as his father’s — President Joe Biden — reelection campaign is in full force.
The younger Biden was accused of lying on a federal form when he bought a .38-caliber Colt Cobra Special in 2018. Hunter Biden falsely said he was not a drug user, despite being addicted to cocaine at the time.
Over the past year, the GOP has targeted Hunter Biden as a means to get to his father. Hunter Biden has made appearances on Capitol Hill as House Republicans continued their impeachment inquiry into his father and their family’s business affairs.
The gun trial is just one of many tactics the GOP has used to target the Biden family.
Republicans have alleged the president profited from Hunter Biden’s business dealings during his time as vice president. There is no direct evidence to support their claims, even as GOP lawmakers conducted dozens of interviews and obtained more than 100,000 pages of documents.
During his latest court appearance, Hunter Biden criticized the impeachment inquiry as a “baseless and destructive political charade” based on “MAGA-motivated conspiracies.”
Along with the congressional investigations, Hunter Biden also faces federal charges in California for not paying taxes.
Hunter Biden under investigation
Dec. 9, 2020: Hunter Biden announced he was under investigation by the Department of Justice.
June 20, 2023: Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to the tax misdemeanors for 2017 and 2018. His legal team and the prosecution agreed that the new deal does not provide Biden immunity to possible future charges.
July 26, 2023: Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges against him when a Delaware judge deferred the new, “more limited” plea deal created after the original deal fell apart in court.
Aug. 11, 2023: David Weiss was appointed as special counsel by the Department of Justice in the Hunter Biden investigation.
Aug. 18, 2023: The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s case in Delaware dismissed two misdemeanor tax charges against him in a filing after David Weiss moved to dismiss them to bring charges in Washington, D.C., or California.
GOP questions Hunter Biden
Sept. 12, 2023: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., directed the House of Representatives to open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, which the House Oversight and Judiciary committees are tasked with overseeing. While more moderate members of McCarthy’s conference questioned if there was enough evidence to launch an inquiry, others, such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, pushed for one.
McCarthy accused the Biden family of operating under a “culture of corruption.”
“I do not make this decision lightly. Regardless of your political party or who you voted for, these facts should concern all Americans,” McCarthy said.
Sept. 15, 2023: Prosecutors in Delaware brought three gun-related charges against Hunter Biden, with a grand jury indicting the president’s son after special counsel David Weiss said he would pursue charges following the evaporation of a plea deal.
Sept. 19, 2023: Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the federal firearms charges filed after the collapse of the plea deal in his long-running federal investigation.
Hunter Biden subpoenaed
Nov. 8, 2023: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued subpoenas to Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James Biden as well as several other family members. Hunter Biden was ordered to appear for a closed-door deposition on Dec. 13.
Biden impeachment inquiry starts
Dec. 11, 2023: Hunter Biden filed motions to dismiss gun charges against him in a federal court in Delaware.
Attorneys for the president’s son argued in three filings the indictment against Hunter Biden should be thrown out because special counsel David Weiss was “unlawfully appointed,” prosecutors failed to charge a constitutionally permissible offense, and it violates a diversion agreement in place.
Dec. 13, 2023: Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill but defied the House Republicans’ subpoena, telling reporters at a news conference that he is willing to testify in a public hearing. He maintained that his father was not involved in any of his business dealings.
Later that day, House Republicans formally approved their impeachment inquiry into the president on a 221-212 party-line vote.
Surprise committee hearing appearance
Jan. 10, 2024: Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance at a House Oversight Committee hearing where lawmakers debated whether to hold him in contempt of Congress. A committee source told NewsNation members were not aware Hunter Biden would be in attendance until the very last minute. However, he didn’t stay and walked out of the hearing as Greene spoke.
Hours later, the House Oversight and Judiciary committees sent contempt charges to the full House.
Contempt plans canceled
Jan. 16, 2024: House Republicans canceled plans for a procedural vote on the contempt charges, saying they were still negotiating with Hunter Biden’s attorneys.
Deposition agreement reached
Jan. 18, 2024: Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced Hunter Biden agreed to sit before them for a deposition on Feb. 28.
FBI informant charged for making false statements
Feb. 15, 2024: Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant, is charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record. Prosecutors alleged he lied when he claimed the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid $5 million each to Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. Smirnov’s assertions were called “fabrications” by the Department of Justice.
This claim has been a central point of focus for the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry. They allege that Joe Biden, as vice president, conditioned a $1 billion loan to Ukraine on the firing of state prosecutor Viktor Shokin, a move which would benefit Burisma.
In court documents, prosecutors said Smirnov said he had been getting information about Hunter Biden from Russian intelligence officials, and his interaction with them was extensive and recent.
Smirnov’s attorneys have said he is presumed innocent. He has pleaded not guilty.
President’s brother James meets with lawmakers
Feb. 21, 2024 James Biden met with lawmakers and staff members from both sides of the aisle in an eight-hour closed-door interview. In his opening statement to lawmakers, he said, in part, “With my appearance here today, the committees will have the information to conclude that the negative and destructive assumptions about me and my relationship with my brother Joe are wrong.”
Hunter Biden deposition
Feb. 28, 2024: Hunter Biden answered questions at the deposition, saying it is an “uncontestable fact” that he did not involve the president in his business matters.
“Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist,” he said in a prepared opening statement. “Never.”
House Republicans vowed to conduct further interviews and issue additional subpoenas beyond the proceedings. Coming out of the deposition, Comer said it helped back several pieces of evidence the committees gathered thus far.
“But there are also some contradictory statements that I think need further review,” he added.
Hunter Biden declines to testify in public
March 13, 2024: Through his lawyer, Hunter Biden declines a request to testify in public at the invitation of Comer. He cited scheduling conflicts as the main reason, but his lawyer also referred to the proposed hearing as a “carnival sideshow.”
Comer responded that the committee had “called Hunter Biden’s bluff,” pointing to his previous offer to give public testimony rather than a closed-door deposition.
Former Hunter Biden associates testify before House Oversight Committee
March 20, 2024: Two of Hunter Biden’s former business associates testify before the Oversight Committee, one of whom testified from prison where he is serving time for fraud.
The Republican-called witnesses claimed that President Joe Biden did have some involvement with his son’s business. Democrats called businessman Lev Parnas, a former aid to Rudy Giuliani, who said he never found any evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens while investigating their connection to Ukraine. Parnas has also served time for fraud.
Appeals court rejects Hunter Biden’s bid to halt trial on federal gun charges
May 21, 2024: An appeals court refused to halt Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial set to begin during his father’s reelection campaign.
The full 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to pause the case against the president’s son while his challenges to the prosecution on multiple fronts play out.
A three-judge panel previously rejected a request to dismiss the case.
Judge sets September date for Hunter Biden tax trial
May 22, 2024: Hunter Biden is scheduled to stand trial on federal tax charges in September. The announcement came after a judge granted his request to delay the California trial, which was set to take place in June.
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi agreed during a hearing to push the case to Sept. 5 after defense lawyers said they need more time to prepare with Hunter Biden, who is also facing a separate trial on federal gun charges beginning June 3 in Delaware.
Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial
May 24, 2024: Hunter Biden is due in court for his final hearing before he’s expected to stand trial on federal firearms charges in Delaware. The court appearance comes as his father’s reelection campaign is in full force.
June 3, 2024: A jury was seated in the federal gun case against Hunter Biden after prospective panelists were questioned about their thoughts on gun rights and drug addiction while the first lady watched from the front row of the courtroom.
June 4, 2024: Opening statements were presented in the federal gun case against Hunter Biden.
June 5, 2024: Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, testified she was devastated when she first found his crack pipe, but was not surprised because of his changing moods.
June 6, 2024: Hunter Biden’s former girlfriend, Hallie Biden, testified that Hunter got her addicted to drugs before she discovered the gun he bought in his car. She then said she threw it away in a public trash can.
June 7, 2024: Hunter Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden, testified for the defense that her father’s drug use got bad after Hunter’s brother, Beau Biden, died of a brain tumor in 2015. She also said that during the period in 2018 when Hunter Biden bought the gun at the center of the trial, he was the “cleanest” she’d seen him since Beau’s death.
June 10, 2024: The case went to the jury without Hunter Biden taking the stand in his own defense.
June 11, 2024: Hunter Biden convicted on all three counts by a Delaware jury.
NewsNation’s Tom Dempsey, Kellie Meyer, Taylor Delandro and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
