Hunter Biden trial guilty verdict: Joe hugs his son after his federal gun conviction

• Count 1: False statement (firearms sale) – GUILTY
• Count 2: False statement (transaction record) – GUILTY
• Count 3: Illegal possession of a firearm – GUILTY

Read how it unfolded below:

What would Republicans point to as a two-tiered system of justice when the president’s son was just convicted of a crime? I mean, if anything, this shows the difference that Democrats are willing to accept when our justice system works as functions.

We’re not here contesting results. We’re not here trying to defund the FBI or the Department of Justice because we don’t like the outcome of a given trial. We respect the judicial process. We respect the outcome of it. And Hunter Biden, like Donald Trump, was convicted by a jury of his peers.

She made the remarks to CNN in the Capitol following the jury’s verdict.

Read more about how Republicans reacted to Hunter’s verdict:

President Joe Biden arrived in Wilmington, Delaware late afternoon Tuesday and immediately embraced son Hunter Biden – emotionally hugging him on the tarmac of Delaware Air National Guard – where Marine One had touched down.

After their initial hug, the president tugged Hunter over again and held onto him for at least five seconds, whispering into his ear.

Biden embraced Hunter’s wife Melissa Cohen.

He bent down and hugged Baby Beau, 4, the couple’s son, kissing the little boy’s blond head.

Biden had rushed to Delaware after Hunter was found guilty on all three counts of federal gun charges for lying about his sobriety on forms to buy a gun and for possessing the firearm while using narcotics.

Hunter was addicted to crack cocaine at the time.

Biden’s surprise trip to Delaware was added Tuesday afternoon to the president’s schedule, right before he left the White House to deliver a speech to survivors and family members of victims of gun violence.

He will overnight in Wilmington before departing for the G7 in Italy tomorrow.

First lady Jill Biden was already on hand in Delaware, attending court proceedings Tuesday but missing the actual announcement of the charges against her stepson.

Lunden Roberts, the mother of Hunter Biden’s out-of-wedlock daughter Navy Joan, 5, said in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com that she hoped ‘the resolution of these legal matters allows for a more stable and positive environment’ to raise their daughter.

She’s said in recent interviews that Hunter and Navy Joan have interacted of Zoom – but that no Biden family member has met her daughter.

I respect the legal process and the verdict reached in Hunter Biden’s gun trial. It is crucial that justice is served and that all individuals are held accountable for their actions, regardless of their status. This verdict serves as a reminder that the law applies to everyone equally.

As the mother of Hunter’s child, my primary concern has always been the well-being and future of our daughter. It is my hope that the resolution of these legal matters allows for a more stable and positive environment for her upbringing. I remain committed to ensuring that her needs are met and that she is provided with the love, support, and security she deserves. Moving forward, I hope for a future where we can all focus on her best interests and work towards a peaceful resolution for our family.

‘Compare and contrast the difference in reaction between the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republicans are attacking our entire system of justice and the rule of law because they don’t like the way one case came out, whereas the son of the president of the United States is prosecuted and I don’t hear a single Democrat crying foul,’ Raskin said.

Republicans, other than Rep. Matt Gaetz, largely praised the Hunter Biden conviction as a ‘step in the right direction’ after calling the justice system ‘weaponized’ when Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

‘Every case is different. And clearly the evidence was overwhelming here,’ Johnson told reporters.

‘I don’t think that’s the case in the Trump trials. And all the charges that have been brought against him have been obviously brought for political purposes. Hunter Biden is a separate incidence.’

President Joe Biden brought up his late son Beau at a anti-gun violence event in Washington, D.c. on Tuesday before heading to see his son who was just convicted of firearms felonies.

‘I know it’s hard because I’ve gotten those phone calls too saying I’ve lost a son, a daughter, a wife – I know what it’s like,’ the president said at the Washington Hilton during remarks on his gun restriction policies.

‘But guess what? Never give up on hope, hope, hope, hope,’ he added.

The reference to Beau came as the president avoided mentioning his son Hunter, who was just hours earlier found guilty of three firearms-related felonies stemming from a 2018 gun purchase.

Right after the remarks in D.C., Biden jetted off to Delaware to be with Hunter after the ruling.

When it comes to an appeal, that is expected following Hunter Biden’s sentencing in the gun case. But legal experts believe there are several issues ripe for appeal.

One is raising an evidentiary issue in that the judge did not allow Biden’s legal team to introduce some evidence indicated that he was not addicted to drugs at the time he bought the firearm.

Lowell established no one saw him doing crack cocaine in the month he bought the gun, but there were text messages that hurt his defense.

There is also the potential vindictive prosecution claim said assistant professor of law Sara Hidlebrand of Delaware Law School.

‘Biden doesn’t have a criminal history as I understand it, and I think often these particular charges wouldn’t be brought in federal court,’ she said. ‘It’s sort of unique in that way that the prosecution decided to bring this case against this person without a criminal history.’

She said there could be a claim they brought the charge because he is part of a prominent political family.

Potentially the strongest appeal though according to Hidlebrand is raising the constitutionality of the statute under which Biden was prosecuted and whether the government can prohibit someone who is addicted to drugs from purchasing a firearm.

‘It’s sort of ironic in some ways that the Republican point of view on this issue could really benefit Hunter Biden,’ she said.

President Joe Biden’s was interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protester at remarks pushing for stricter gun laws just hours after his son Hunter was convicted of three firearms-related felonies.

A single demonstrator shouted during a pause in the president’s remarks about the children killed in Gaza in the war between Israel and Hamas while Biden was speaking about children killed by gun violence.

The anti-gun audience was not pleased with the outburst regarding displeasure with Biden’s policies in the Middle East and immediately started chanting ‘four more years.’

‘They care, innocent children have been lost. They make a point,’ Biden replied, urging the crowd not to condemn the protester.’Thank you for honoring gun violence survivors,’ an audience member yelled.

Hunter Biden’s stripper ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan was one of the 13 witnesses who took the stand he trial.

She told the jury that Hunter smoked crack ‘every 20 minutes’ when she stayed with him from September 16 to 23 that year, after the rehab stint and just a few days before the gun purchase.

Kestan, who at the time was 24 and half Hunter’s age of 48, said she even hooked up Hunter with a connection to a drug dealer through a student at her alma mater in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lowell did however make Kestan admit that she did not know what Hunter did between leaving him around September 23 and when she next saw him in Newburyport, Massachusetts around November 18, 2018 – with the gun purchase happening in between.

Lowell alluded to Kestan’s potential closeness to the prosecution, getting her to state that she spent over six hours with investigators and prosecutors in the two weeks leading up to her testimony.

Kestan said Hunter stayed in a home on Plum Island and was visiting a clinic to get ketamine infusion treatments he believed could help with his addiction.

The prosecution showed text messages in which he told her: ‘I can be sober but I’ll always be an addict.’

Judge Maryellen Noreika has discretion when it comes to sentencing. The date for that has not yet been set.

Before she makes a decision, there will be a pre-sentencing report where each side will have the opportunity to present anything they would like to have in that document for the judge to consider. They can also object to anything they oppose being included in the report.

Hunter Biden’s legal team will also likely be filing any appeal that they might have. If an appeal around evidentiary rulings or the judge’s charge were successful, it would result in a new trial.

While Biden faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for the charges, legal experts do not believe he will receive anywhere near the maximum sentence.

‘I think that the judge is going to consider the fact that he’s come out of this addiction to lead a productive, law-abiding life,’ said law professor Cheryl Bader.

When it comes to sentencing there are multiple factors included in the consideration process such as criminal history of which Biden currently has none. It also looks at mitigating factors.

‘The facts of the case and the facts around this individual don’t, in my opinion, warrant a sentence of incarceration,’ said Bader.

There is growing speculation that President Biden could actually pardon his son Hunter for gun crimes – but only if he loses the 2024 election.

The president told ABC News’ David Muir that he would not pardon Hunter in an interview last week.

However, legal experts say that is likely to change.

‘If Biden loses in November, he will surely pardon Hunter,’ predicts attorney John Yoo.

‘The pardon would be politically costless; it would only hurt Biden’s political legacy, but it wouldn’t affect his electoral chances.’

‘If Biden wins, I expect he would not pardon his son, as it would trigger more rounds of investigations and attacks,’ Yoo told DailyMail.com.

Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo told DailyMail.com that the guilty verdict for Hunter today ‘increases the stakes’ for his tax trial in LA in September.

A federal judge in California agreed to delay Hunter’s trial on federal tax crimes brought by Special Counsel David Weiss until September 5.

He said the case was ‘run of the mill’ and it was only ‘crazy’ that Hunter decided to go to trial rather than obtaining a plea bargain with ‘minimal jail time.’

‘This also increases the stakes for Hunter’s trial in LA in September for tax evasion,’ Yoo added.

By the time of that trial, ‘Hunter will be a convicted federal felon, not a first-time offender as here,’ he explains.

‘While that means he is unlikely to serve jail time for the gun possession, he may well serve time for the tax evasion because he will have a record by then.’

‘While the gun case has little political consequences for Joe Biden, the LA trial does. The LA trial involves Hunter’s reception of millions of dollars from foreign companies, and even governments.’

‘Hunter did not report the money nor did he explain where it went — the trial will ask whether Hunter took the money in order to peddle influence using his father’s name, and whether the money benefitted Joe Biden and the rest of his family.’

‘That is a type of corruption that DOJ will prosecute companies for if they did it with the heads of state of foreign governments.’

President Joe Biden will fly to Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday afternoon to be with his Hunter after he was found guilty of three federal firearms charges.

After a speech on gun control at the Washington Hilton, he will travel to his hometown where his son learned his fate.

On Wednesday he is flying to the G7 summit in Italy, but First Lady Jill is staying in the U.S.

Republicans largely praised a jury convicting Hunter Biden of three counts related to lying on a gun form after largely claiming the justice system is weaponized when Donald Trump was convicted weeks ago.

‘Timing is everything. This is the veil of fairness in the Justice System under [President Biden],’ said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Fla., a Hunter Biden foe on the Oversight Committee.

‘I am glad to see that justice has been served. Nobody is above the law, including the President’s son,’ said Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla.

Oversight Chair James Comer, who has led the Biden impeachment probe, called the verdict a ‘step toward accountability.’

It was a trial where Hunter Biden leaned on family members for emotional support – but not all of them were there when the jury returned its historic guilty verdict.

Whatever she was feeling inside, wife Melissa Cohen didn’t let it show for those gathered inside the Wilmington federal courtroom for the historic verdict. She managed to keep a contended expression outside court even after the the guilty verdict.

First lady Jill Biden, who flew back from Europe to attend a day of the trial last week, wasn’t in court during the crucial moment when the decision came down.

Neither was the president’s daughter, Ashley, another member of the tight Biden clan.

‘This case was about the illegal choices the defendent made while in the throws of addiction,’ said David Weiss, who made a rare public statement after the jury returned a guilty verdict.

‘No one in this country is above the law. Everyone must be accountable for their actions, including this defendant.’

‘However, Hunter Biden should be no more accountable than any other citizen convicted of this same conduct.’

‘The prosecution has been and will continue to be committed to this principle,’ he went on.

Weiss also praised the jury and the entire special counsel team.

‘This is a difficult assignment. These folks have been working seven days a week for the last several months.’

He referenced their work ‘on two coasts’ – he is also leading the tax charges against Hunter in California federal court.

He said Biden-appointed Attorney General Merrick Garland has ensured the ‘independence’ of the special counsel team as they continue their work.

Members of the jury who found Hunter Biden guilty of three federal firearms charges has revealed they were initially split over the verdict.

Juror 10 spoke to CNN anonymously, and described how only six wanted to find the president’s son guilty when they took the first vote on Monday night.

The remaining six wanted to find him not guilty for lying about his crack cocaine addiction when he he bought a Colt Cobra Revolver in 2018.

When the jury returned on Tuesday morning, the first vote was 11-1, with the majority wanting a guilty verdict.

The three jurors who spoke to the network said they had not choice but to make Hunter a convicted felon.

They believed prosecutors had argued their case beyond reasonable doubt, but Juror 10 said he doesn’t think he deserves to be in jail

Donald Trump’s campaign has responded to Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict by calling it a ‘distraction’ from the ‘real crimes of the Biden Crime Family’.

They said the first family has ‘raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine.’

‘Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Enterprise is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit’.

Hunter Biden has released a statement after being found guilty of all three federal gun charges.

The president’s son is now a convicted felon and could face a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in around 120 days time.

I am more grateful for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome. Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time.

His attorney Abbe Lowell also released a statement laying out his disappointment with the verdict

We are naturally disappointed by today’s verdict. We respect the jury process, and as we have done throughout the case, we will continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available to Hunter. Through all he has been through in his recovery, including this trial, Hunter has felt grateful got and blessed by the love and support of his family.

President Joe Biden responded Tuesday to his son Hunter being found guilty on three gun charges in federal court in Wilmington.

Biden is at the White House in Washington and will deliver an address to victims and survivors of gun violence later Tuesday afternoon.

As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.

Judge Noreika thanked the jury in court and said she wanted to give them a ‘personal thank you’ in the jury’s room afterwards.

‘You are excused with our gratefulness,’ she told the 12 men and women, thanking them for ‘paying close attention’ to the evidence presented.

‘I’ll come back to say thank you personally for all your service.’

After the verdict Hunter stood with his arms folded, letting the new reality sink in.

Hunter’s uncle Jim Biden was in the courtroom to hear the verdict, and sighed and crossed his arms when the guilty decisions were read out.

His aunt Valerie missed the verdict, slipping in afterwards and sitting with Melissa, who kept a neutral composure as the verdict came in.

Jill Biden, Ashley Biden, and other family members were conspicuously absent to watch their son and brother become a felon.

They had been fixtures during the past week of the gun crimes trial.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement Tuesday that Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict showed that last summer’s ‘sweetheart’ plea deal had been ‘smoked out.’

Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was smoked out after scrutiny by a federal judge. Today’s verdict is a step toward accountability but until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden walked out of court for the first time as a convicted felon holding hands with his stepmother Jill and wife Melissa Cohen.

The president’s son had a smile on his face as he got into a waiting SUV, just minutes after he was found guilty of all three federal gun charges.

First Lady Jill Biden missed the reading of the verdict as she returned to the Wilmington court house.

She has been a constant fixture in court while her stepson has been on trial.

President Joe Biden answered ‘yes’ in his recent sit-down with ABC’s David Muir when asked if pardoning Hunter Biden was off the table.

The president also answered in the affirmative when Muir probed whether he would accept the result of his son’s federal gun trial.

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all three charges Tuesday morning.

From Dailymail.com’s Josh Boswell in court:

The jury continued deliberating Hunter Biden’s gun crimes charges on Tuesday morning.

The 12 Delaware men and women were called into court at 9am and were asked by Judge Maryellen Noreika standard questions of whether they had received any outside information about the case or spoken with anyone but each other about it. They all replied no.

The jury seemed to be in light spirits, chuckling at a small joke Judge Noreika made.

It was perhaps an indication that Hunter’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell’s words during his closing arguments on Monday, that they ‘hold his life in your hands’, were not weighing too heavily on them. The judge dismissed them to continue their deliberations.

Hunter showed up for the short hearing with his wife Melissa, defense team, and Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris who is bankrolling the defense. Morris had been attracting attention with flamboyant suits including a tweed ensemble and bright green tie last week, but today was dressed in a more sober charcoal.

It was prosecutor Leo Wise who had a flashy outfit today, sporting a light tan suit unusual for a government lawyer.

Hunter, his entourage and Secret Service detail left the courthouse shortly after the jury were dismissed.

President Joe Biden is set to address victims and survivors of gun violence Tuesday afternoon at Everytown’s Gun Sense University, taking place this week at the Washington Hilton.

The speech comes just hours after son Hunter was found guilty of federal firearms charges.

Biden will ‘highlight the progress to keep guns out of dangerous hands’ the White House said Monday.

He is set to announce that the Department of Justice has charged more than 500 defendants for violating new gun trafficking laws created by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the piece of legislation Biden ushered through Congress and signed into law in June 2022.

Naomi Biden’s desperate texts to her father reveal how Hunter Biden had been difficult to reach, repeatedly reneged on plans, and even stood his daughter up for lunch at a Hollywood hotel, in the year he bought the gun.

DailyMail.com has obtained the devastating messages between the president’s son and his 30-year-old daughter that were read out in court on Friday – which may have cost him his gun crimes trial.

The texts show Hunter was unreliable and hard to get hold of during a crucial period in the days after he bought a revolver in October 2018 – casting doubt on his lawyers’ claim that he had been sober at the time.

But other texts not read to the jury also show Naomi repeatedly reaching out to her father, desperately trying to spend time with him and connect, while he failed to reply, bailed on plans, and complained about her spending his money, despite the First Son earning millions in 2018 from his overseas deals.

Hunter departed the court around 9:21 a.m. with his wife Melissa as the jury deliberates.

He is not expected to return until they come back with a verdict.

After only deliberating for an hour on Monday, the jury is back at it again Tuesday morning.

There is speculation that a verdict could come before the lunch hour.

If convicted on the three federal gun charges, Hunter faces up to 25 years in prison.

His father, President Joe Biden, said recently that he is not considering a pardon for Hunter.

Hunter Biden tried to meet up with a drug dealer just 24 hours before he lied about his crack cocaine use to buy a gun, damning texts revealed by prosecutors in court on Monday suggest,

The messages from October 11, 2018, show the president’s son trying to arrange a meeting at a 7-Eleven in downtown Wilmington, Delaware.

He pleaded guilty in June 2023 to a count of using a communication device to facilitate a drug conspiracy.

Taxpayers will pick up the majority of cost for Jill Biden‘s whirlwind flights between Wilmington, Delaware, and France so she could be  at son Hunter’s side during his federal gun trial although the Democratic Party will chip in some funds.

The first lady racked up $345,400 in flight costs, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation estimated, as she boomeranged between the United States and France last week, traveling separately from husband Joe Biden so she could support her family at home while also representing the United States abroad.

Her political party will repay the government for what it would cost for her to fly commercially with taxpayers footing the rest of the bill.

President Joe Biden sparked concerns Monday night when he appeared to freeze for the better part of a minute before his speech became slurred past the point of comprehension during a lively Juneteenth celebration at the White House.

During the event ahead of the national holiday next week, the Commander-in-Chief seemed to short-circuit as the rest of the crowd, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, grooved along to the lively band.

Philonise Floyd, brother of the late George Floyd, flanked Biden on his left and eventually noticed the concerning pause he was taking and wrapped his arm around him in an apparent effort to help.

Floyd was able to get a response out of Biden when he extended a ‘pound it’ fist in his direction, which the president met with his own fist.

But Biden would go on to have a further meltdown as he delivered a speech following the musical performance.

Attorneys started closing arguments in Hunter Biden’s gun trial after court resumed following a lunch break.

The prosecution is up first after bringing FBI agent Erika Jensen back to the stand.

‘No one is above the law,’ stated prosecutor Leo Wise.

He also told the jury to ignore the big wigs in the audience, including First Lady Jill Biden.

‘All of this is not evidence. People sitting in the gallery are not evidence.’

Smoking gun text messages show Hunter set up a meeting with a convicted drug dealer the night before he bought a .38 revolver.

The day before the gun purchase, Hunter texted violent, convicted drug dealer Eladio Otero Jr. to ‘meet me 7/11 at 3’, according to records from the First Son’s abandoned laptop.

Otero was convicted last year of ‘use of a communication device to facilitate a drug conspiracy’ in a Delaware federal case overseen by David Weiss, who is now the Special Counsel prosecuting Hunter.

Otero was previously convicted of assault after being arrested for a 2007 armed robbery in which he held a knife to the victim’s throat while his accomplice pointed a gun at the man’s head, according to a Maryland police report.

Welcome to DailyMail.com’s daily U.S. politics blog, with live coverage of verdict watch in Hunter Biden‘s federal gun trial.

The jury returns at 9am for their second day of deliberations after they were sent home on Monday night, leaving the president’s son waiting to learn his fate.

In closing arguments, his lawyer Abbe Lowell tried to throw his exes under the bus and slammed the prosecution for their ‘cruel’ cross-examination of his daughter Naomi.

Here is what happened in court during closing arguments: