Here’s what you need to know about Hunter Biden’s trial

Hunter Biden is back in a federal courthouse in Delaware on Monday, facing charges for allegedly buying a gun while lying about his drug use in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty to the three charges.

It marks the latest court appearance for President Joe Biden’s son and the first since Biden’s opponent in this year’s presidential election, Donald Trump, was found guilty of falsifying business documents to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election through hush-money payments to an adult film star.

Hunter Biden’s high-profile case sets the stage for a trial his defense team attempted to avoid entirely.

In July, Biden, 54, had a tentative deal with prosecutors in which he would plead guilty to separate tax charges and enter into a diversion agreement on the gun offenses to avoid trial. But things fell apart during a hearing with U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who raised concerns over the deal’s terms.

From there, Justice Department special counsel David Weiss brought new gun-related charges. Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, has tried to get the case dismissed on various grounds without success. Lowell has said the gun charges are being handled atypically and suggested it’s because of Republican pressure.

Here’s what you need to know.

A five-year investigation into Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings examined his role in his board position with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine into investigating the Bidens and Hunter’s involvement with Burisma led to the former president’s first impeachment.

The Senate Republicans’ investigation into Biden’s board position floated conflict-of-interest concerns but concluded that it was “not clear” how his role “affected U.S. policy toward Ukraine.”

Prosecutors ultimately closed in on two issues: Biden’s failure to pay income taxes on time and lying about his substance abuse on a firearm application.

Biden has been open about his struggles with substance abuse, leading prosecutors to allege that he was lying on his application.

In his memoir, Beautiful Things, Biden talks about addiction. He wrote that he first bought crack cocaine when he was 18 and started drinking while in high school.

He has been in and out of rehab multiple times and held long stints of sobriety between relapses. In Beautiful Things, Biden said his addictions took a dark turn following the death of his older brother, Beau, from brain cancer in 2015.

In October 2020, a month before the election, the New York Post reported that it had received a copy of a hard drive from a laptop Hunter Biden used from Trump’s personal attorney at the time, Rudy Giuliani. The story alleged that the laptop showed international corruption from Hunter Biden and his father.

“Hunter Biden’s laptop” became a pressure point among far-right Republicans. But the story was met with skepticism by others because of the laptop’s unknown origins and Giuliani’s involvement.

The latest indictment came after Biden’s plea deal on tax and gun charges fell apart after facing scrutiny from Noreika. That agreement would have let Biden plead guilty for two tax-related misdemeanors and enter a pretrial program for the gun charge that could’ve resulted in its eventual dismissal and potentially avoiding prison time.

Noreika said she wouldn’t accept the deal, citing disputes between the prosecutors and defense about whether the deal protected Biden from future charges.

Biden will also face a second prosecution on tax charges, which is scheduled for trial in September in California.

The president has been careful not to weigh in on his son’s case aside from expressing love and support.

“As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases,” Joe Biden said in a statement Monday. “But as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength.”

First lady Jill Biden; Hunter’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden; and his sister, Ashley Biden, are supporting Hunter Biden in court on Monday. Joe Biden will not be in attendance but changed his schedule to be in Wilmington.

It’ll depend on what happens in this trial.

If Biden is convicted in the gun case, a sentencing hearing would come next. A judge could impose a penalty ranging from probation to years in prison. The maximum sentence for these charges would be 25 years, but the Justice Department has noted most sentences fall below the top penalties.

If he is acquitted, his team will turn their sights to his upcoming tax trial.