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Hunter Biden gun trial: 'Politics never came into play,' juror says after guilty verdict

PHOTO: First lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, joined by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, leave the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 11, 2024 in Wilmington, Del.
1:36
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Hunter Biden guilty on all 3 counts
By Lucien Bruggeman, Olivia Rubin, Will Steakin, Chris Boccia, Laura Romero
Last Updated: June 11, 2024, 9:31 PM

President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty on three felony counts related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.

The younger Biden, who pleaded not guilty last October after being indicted by special counsel David Weiss, denied the charges. The son of a sitting president had never before faced a criminal trial.

MORE: What's next for Hunter Biden following conviction on federal gun charges

The trial came on the heels of former President Donald Trump's conviction on felony charges related to a hush money payment made to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Latest headlines:

  • 'Politics never came into play,' juror tells ABC News
  • Hunter Biden says he's more grateful than disappointed
  • Hunter Biden found guilty on all 3 counts
  • Defense calls government's case 'conjecture and suspicion'
  • Hunter Biden 'knew he was using drugs,' prosecutor argues
The frequency of updates may be limited due to federal court restrictions.

Jun 11, 2024 9:31 PM

President meets with family, embraces son hours after conviction

President Joe Biden hugged his son and spent several minutes with him on the tarmac at Delaware Air National Guard Base, hours after Hunter Biden was convicted in court.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden hugs his son Hunter Biden upon arrival at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., on June 11, 2024, as he travels to Wilmington, Del.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
President Joe Biden hugs his son Hunter Biden upon arrival at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., on June 11, 2024, as he travels to Wilmington, Del. A jury found Hunter Biden guilty on June 11 on federal gun charges in a historic first criminal prosecution of the child of a sitting US president.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

The president spent several minutes with Hunter Biden, his wife Melissa and their infant son Beau on the tarmac.

MORE: Biden shows support for son Hunter after conviction, says he will respect verdict

The infant hugged his grandfather, who took the child's face in his hands and appeared to give him a kiss.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


Jun 11, 2024 6:51 PM

'Too many patterns' of drug use to acquit, juror tells ABC News

A juror in Hunter Biden's gun trial told ABC News that he did not know who Hunter Biden was before the trial started, and that his proximity to power made no difference to the jury.

"Everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes," the juror said. "And those mistakes can have serious consequences -- not just for them, but for everyone else."

The juror -- whose father was killed by gunfire when he was young -- said prosecutors successfully showed that Hunter Biden's drug use around the time of his gun purchase was "too close for me to consider him not a user or addict at that point."

"There's too many patterns that I can see that showed that he was using it when he purchased the gun," the juror said.


Jun 11, 2024 6:04 PM

'Politics never came into play,' juror tells ABC News

A member of the jury in Hunter Biden's gun case told ABC News that "politics never came into play" in deliberations and that "the verdict absolutely was not politically motivated."

The juror said "it wasn't that hard" to reach a verdict, but said the panel of 12 had to overcome a six-six vote on yesterday afternoon when deliberations began.

When jurors returned this morning and deliberated further, he said they determined that prosecutors had met their burden of proof.

"If you're an addict, you're an addict," he said.

The juror said evidence that placed Hunter Biden at a 7/11 convenience store -- a place where he repeatedly said in his memoir and in text messages that he purchased drugs -- days prior to his gun purchase tipped them over the top.



Jun 11, 2024 5:53 PM

Officials to discuss security plans should Hunter Biden be jailed

A senior official who has been briefed on the matter tells ABC News that the Secret Service has not started planning for the possibility that Hunter Biden could be sentenced to prison. Those discussions with the Bureau of Prisons will start now.

As the son of a president, Hunter Biden gets Secret Service protection but can opt out of that protection if he wants.

As of now, he continues to have USSS protection and, for as long as his father is president, that would continue, even in prison, unless he waives the privilege.

When sentenced, he could face up to 25 years in prison -- though legal experts believe he will not serve time as a first-time and nonviolent offender.

-ABC News' Josh Margolin


Jun 05, 2024 1:01 AM

Defense attorney says Hunter Biden's daughter could testify

According to a transcript of Tuesday's proceedings released hours after court concluded, at attorney for Hunter Biden told the judge during a sidebar conversation that he might decide to call Hunter Biden's oldest daughter, Naomi Biden, to testify at trial "if need be."

Attorney Abbe Lowell made the statement during what appeared to be a tense exchange between him, Judge Maryellen Noreika and two government prosecutors, in which Lowell divulged his expectations for witnesses.

When prosecutors suggested Lowell was hiding the ball on how he planned to present certain evidence, Lowell first introduced the idea of calling one of Hunter Biden's daughters as a witness:

MR. HINES: Exactly, we have asked Mr. Lowell and he won't tell us.
MR. LOWELL: That's not what I said.
MR. HINES: He couldn't tell us which witness.
MR. LOWELL: I said I'm making a proffer and the court -- I understand the rules, each one of these will be submitted with a witness, I don't have to tell them in advance which witness it is, but I am making a statement to the Court, there is three or four witnesses, including his uncle and his daughter, if need be.

Lowell later clarified that Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's daughter with ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, and the president's eldest granddaughter, was on his witness list.

Lowell also left the door open for Hunter Biden to testify "if it gets to that," a gamble that would put his client in the position of facing live cross-examination from federal prosecutors. It came during a discussion about how Lowell planned to demonstrate that Hunter Biden read the ATF Form 4473 "carefully."

THE COURT: Wait. Just so I'm clear, are you going to suggest that he did in fact read these things or just that if he had chosen to and didn't tell them.
MR. LOWELL: Both.
THE COURT: What is your evidence going to be that he did in fact read all of these things carefully?
MR. LOWELL: If it gets to that judge, then it will be Mr. Biden's job to say that.

During a debate at the same bench conference about an argument Lowell intended to make in his opening statement, Judge Maryellen Noreika called the defense attorney for interrupting her.

MR. LOWELL: That's not the argument judge.
THE COURT: That is what it sounds like you're telling me, you're saying he doesn't know what it was.
MR. LOWELL: No.
THE COURT: You keep cutting me off, and you want to make your argument, and I know you want to make your argument, but you need to understand it, so you need to understand where I am.

The judge later told Lowell, "Don't put words in my mouth."

"I know you're just trying to zealously represent your client," she said, "but don't assume my ruling before you give me a chance to make it."


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