WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden could face trial in Delaware on federal firearms charges as soon as June, in the midst of his father’s reelection campaign.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika set the tentative date during a short telephonic hearing Wednesday, though she is still weighing several defense motions to toss out the case against the president’s son that could yet derail any potential trial.
The trial is slated to begin June 3 and could last up to nine days. A separate trial on tax charges against him in California is now tentatively set to begin later that month.
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has pleaded not guilty to lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days. He has acknowledged an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law and another nonviolent, first-time offender would not have been charged.
He was indicted after a plea deal that would have resolved the case without the spectacle of a trial imploded in July 2023 when a judge who was supposed to approve it instead raised a series of questions.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys have since sought to have the case tossed out by arguing that prosecutors bowed to political pressure after the agreement was publicly pilloried by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, as a “sweetheart deal.”
They also argue that immunity provisions from the original deal still hold, a position that defense attorney Abbe Lowell pressed with the judge Wednesday.
Noreika said she hadn’t fully decided how she would handle the case’s four pending motions to dismiss but wanted to ensure that time for any trial would be available on her calendar.
Prosecutors have said there’s no evidence the case is politically motivated, the evidence against him is “overwhelming” and the immunity deal blew up with the rest of the plea deal.
Hunter Biden has also pleaded not guilty to the separate tax charges in Los Angeles alleging a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while living an extravagant lifestyle.