Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, arrives at federal court to plead guilty to 2 misdemeanor charges of willfully failing to pay income taxes, Wilmington, Delaware, July 26, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Hunter Biden will plead not guilty during his initial court appearance for 3 federal felony gun charges, his attorney said Tuesday.
Hunter’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, revealed that planned plea as he asked a judge to carry the court appearance for the son of President Joe Biden by video conference as an alternative of in person at U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden, who lives in California, “will waive reading of the indictment, which is merely just a few pages and will easily be read at a video conference,” Lowell wrote in a two-page letter to Judge Christopher Burke.
“Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there isn’t a reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference,” Lowell wrote.
Biden, 53, was indicted last week on three criminal counts related to his possession of a firearm while being an illegal drug user.
Biden, who has been open about his substance abuse struggles, is charged with two counts of lying about his illegal drug use in connection together with his purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver. The third count accuses him of possession of a firearm by a one who is an illegal drug user.
Lowell wrote in Tuesday’s letter that Biden was “not in search of any special treatment” by requesting the video conference for his first appearance in court on the costs.
Conducting the court hearing via video would “minimize an unnecessary burden on government resources and the disruption to the courthouse and downtown areas” in Wilmington from Secret Service agents accompanying Biden, Lowell argued.
“Without stepping into specifics, quite a few agents and vehicles are required for what would must be a two-day event (for a proceeding that can be quite short in duration),” the attorney wrote.
Federal prosecutors oppose Biden’s bid for a virtual appearance, the judge noted in a court order Monday that directed them to reply by Wednesday.
Lowell’s letter called prosecutors’ opposition “puzzling,” arguing that he was making a “commonsense request in in search of a video appearance.
Biden in late July pleaded not guilty to separate misdemeanor charges of failing to pay federal taxes on greater than $1.5 million in annual income in 2017 and 2018.
He had intended to plead guilty to those charges, but his take care of prosecutors fell apart in court under scrutiny from a judge.
Biden also expected to enter right into a pretrial diversion agreement on a gun-related crime at the moment that would have seen him avoid being criminally charged with a firearm count if he complied with the deal’s conditions for 2 years.
After the plea deal on the tax charges collapsed, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said that the gun charge diversion agreement had been withdrawn.
But Lowell argues that the deal took effect and thus bars Biden from being charged with the gun crimes.
He noted in a court filing earlier this month that Biden “has been following and can proceed to follow the conditions of that Agreement.”