Jurors found the president's oldest son guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
Hunter Biden reportedly stared straight ahead and showed little emotion as the verdict was read.
The verdict was being read Tuesday inside a federal courthouse, where cameras are not allowed.
The president’s son was charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of the gun he had for about 11 days. Prosecutors say he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Biden’s lawyers rested their case Monday in the federal criminal trial in Wilmington, Delaware without calling Biden to the witness stand. According to the Associated Press, defendants are not required to testify and are often advised by lawyers not to do so because it opens them up to questioning by prosecutors on cross-examination.
Prosecutors argued the evidence was clear that Biden was struggling with addiction when he checked "no" on the form at the gun shop that asked whether he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to" drugs, the Associated Press reported.
Defense lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to prove Biden was using drugs in the 11 days that he possessed the gun. Biden has accused the Justice Department of bending to political pressure from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans to bring the gun case and separate tax charges after a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year.
Biden is the first child of a sitting president to be the subject of a criminal trial. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. The president said last week that he would accept the jury’s verdict and had ruled out a pardon for his son.
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11.25.2024