Pivotal moments leading up to the conviction of Joe Biden's son Hunter
By Tom Hals
WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -A jury in Delaware convicted Hunter Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden's son, on Tuesday of lying about his illegal drug use when he purchased a gun in 2018.
Here is a look at key moments leading up to the verdict.
May 13, 2014: Burisma Group, a private energy company in Ukraine, says Hunter Biden will be joining its board. Joe Biden, U.S. vice president at the time, oversees Ukraine policy for the administration of President Barack Obama. Burisma's founder had been the subject of a series of criminal investigations by Ukrainian authorities that were closed in 2017 after the company and founder made payments to authorities.
May 30, 2015: Beau Biden, Joe Biden's oldest of two sons, dies of cancer. Hunter Biden later writes in his autobiography, titled "Beautiful Things," that this set off his descent into addiction.
Oct. 12, 2018: Hunter Biden purchases a Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver, and on the federal firearm purchase form responds "no" to a question asking if he is an unlawful user of controlled substances or an addict. Later that month, his sister-in-law throws the gun into a public trash bin, where it is discovered by a man collecting recyclables and turned over to police.
2019: David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, begins investigating Hunter Biden for potential tax and other financial crimes, according to media reports. Weiss was appointed by then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
April 2019: Joe Biden announces his bid for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination. Hunter Biden's term on the Burisma board expires.
July 25, 2019: Trump speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and pressures him to investigate an allegation that Joe Biden, while vice president office, muscled Ukrainian authorities to shut down a probe that could implicate Hunter Biden's work for Burisma. The Bidens deny the allegations. The U.S. House of Representatives later votes to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, in part due to the call. The U.S. Senate subsequently votes to acquit Trump, keeping him in office. Joe Biden goes on to defeat Trump in the 2020 election.
June 20, 2023: Hunter Biden reaches a deal to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of willfully failing to pay income taxes and to enter into an agreement to avert a conviction on gun-related charges. The agreement prompts accusations by Republicans that Hunter Biden is receiving favorable treatment as the president's son.
July 26, 2023: U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika says she cannot accept the plea deal that Hunter Biden worked out with prosecutors because of concerns that it is overly broad and insulates him from other potential business-related charges.
Sept. 14, 2023: Hunter Biden is charged in Delaware with gun-related crimes and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He later enters a plea of not guilty.
Dec. 8, 2023: Hunter Biden is charged with federal tax crimes in Los Angeles and later pleads not guilty. His lawyer Abbe Lowell accuses Weiss, who led the probe, of political bias.
June 3, 2024: Jury selection begins in Wilmington, Delaware, for Hunter Biden's trial on the gun-related charges.
June 11, 2024: The jury convicts Hunter Biden on all three counts against him in the gun case, finding he falsely claimed to be free of illegal drugs when he filled out a government screening document to purchase the revolver and then illegally possessed the weapon. He was due to be sentenced at a later date.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Will Dunham)
