US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was indicted Thursday for illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his father’s campaign for reelection next year.
Hunter Biden was charged with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for the 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.
A third charge said that, based on the false statements, he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October that year.
If convicted on all three charges, Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice the charges are seldom punished by any jail time.
In attesting that he was not an unlawful user of drugs at the time he bought the Colt Cobra revolver, Biden “knew that statement was false,” the Justice Department said.
The indictment came two days after Republicans in Congress opened an impeachment probe against Joe Biden, alleging that when he was vice president he benefitted financially from his son’s foreign business dealings.
The gun charges were filed by Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Biden since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals.
