Hunter Biden Asks for Exemption from Court Appearance in Gun Case

Hunter Biden is requesting that he appear via video conference, and not in person, for a court hearing on the felony gun charges prosecutors brought against him last week, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke directed the lawyers for President Joe Biden’s son to make their request in writing in a motion Tuesday and told the government to respond in writing by Wednesday.

Special counsel David Weiss’ team is opposing the request for a remote hearing, according to the order from Burke, CNN reported.

Hunter Biden was indicted in federal court in Delaware on Thursday on three counts connected to possession of a gun while using narcotics.

In July, there was initially only a single gun charge against Hunter Biden as part of a plea deal that fell apart last month.

Under the terms of now-defunct plea agreement, Biden would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges in return for prosecutors recommending that he receive a sentence of probation.

Biden lawyer Abbe Lowell said he intends to fight the latest indictments, saying “we believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court.”

Two of the counts against Hunter Biden carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.