(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden is expected to enter a plea of not guilty when he is arraigned on federal gun charges, his attorney wrote in court filings Tuesday.
It’s the first official indication of the younger Biden’s plans to fight the charges against him following his indictment last week, though his attorney has publicly suggested he would fight the charges.
The president’s only living son was indicted last Thursday by special counsel David Weiss on charges that he lied on a federal form when he said he was drug-free at the time that he purchased a Colt revolver in October 2018.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, has previously suggested they would push back on the gun charges, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on “Good Morning America” last week that, “on the facts, we think we’ll have a defense.”
Lowell filed court papers on Tuesday seeking to have his client’s initial appearance in a Delaware court take place via video conference instead of in person, in order to limit what he called “the financial impact on government resources and the logistical burden on the downtown area of Wilmington.”
“No matter whether in person or virtual … Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference,” Lowell wrote.
Noting that virtual court appearances became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lowell argued in the filing that “neither Mr. Biden nor the government would be prejudiced by an initial appearance conducted via video conference.”
Prosecutors have opposed a virtual arraignment, according to a magistrate judge’s order on Monday.
Lowell called the government’s position “puzzling because Mr. Biden is not asking for special treatment with this request, as individuals without the additional considerations described herein regularly make such appearances by video.”
After a plea deal between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden fell apart in July following a five-year probe, prosecutors said in court filings last month that they also intend to bring misdemeanor tax charges against Hunter Biden in California and Washington, D.C.
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