Washington —Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to his purchase of a firearm in October 2018, while he was a drug user, according to court filings.
The four-page indictment returned by the grand jury convened in Delaware charges Hunter Biden with three felony counts stemming from his possession of a Colt Cobra 38 special revolver in October 2018.
The first count of the indictment alleges that HunterBiden “knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement” on a form used for firearms purchases. The president’s son certified on the form that he was not an unlawful user of any narcotic drugs, a statement that was “false and fictitious,” according to the charging document.
Hunter Biden allegedly knowingly made a false statement and representation to an unnamed, Wilmington-based firearms dealer, as detailed in the second count of the indictment. He is accused in the third count of the document of knowingly possessing a firearm, despite knowing that he was a drug user, in violation of federal law.
The indictment comes after a deal fell apart in July between the government and Hunter Biden’s attorneys over taxes and diversion agreement on a firearms charge. Originally the president’s son had been charged with two separate criminal informations with misdemeanor tax offenses and a felony firearm offense. But in a court hearing that was meant to seal the deal, a federal judge questioned provisions that would have allowed Hunter Biden to avoid prison time. The deal fell apart in real time, and Hunter Biden ultimately pleaded not guilty to the three charges.
The charges are the first brought by special counsel David Weiss in his investigation into Hunter Biden since he was appointed to the position by Attorney General Merrick Garland last month. Weiss said in a court filing earlier this month that he intended to seek an indictment against Hunter Biden before Sept. 29.
Weiss was tapped to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Delaware by former President Donald Trump and has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018.