Hunter Biden’s defense team hit back Tuesday against federal prosecutors in his gun case, suggesting that they may benefit from attending Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
The latest filings pick up on previous claims that allege that President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is the target of politically motivated federal prosecutors.
In one lengthy footnote, the defense said Hunter Biden’s 2021 book: “Beautiful Things: A Memoir,” was not a confession to using drugs while owning a firearm, but a cautionary tale designed to help Americans struggling with addiction. The defense also suggested prosecutors could benefit from attending AA and NA meetings.
“Perhaps the prosecution should visit an Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meeting, where they will find that the sort of stories Mr. Biden recounts in his memoir are common. These stories are not told to gloat. Acknowledging the depraved actions that they have taken while in the throes of addiction and acknowledging responsibility for them is part of the healing process,” defense attorney Abbe David Lowell wrote. “It shows others who are coming to terms with their addiction that they are not alone, that there are others who understand them, and that there is a path forward. Mr. Biden wrote his memoir as a cautionary tale to show that even a child born into great privilege can succumb to addiction and, perhaps more importantly, to show people that no matter how far you may have fallen, you can still pick yourself back up. Mr. Biden has been proudly sober four years now – a fact the prosecution conveniently omits when it revels in discussing the more salacious details of his history of drug use.”
Tuesday’s filing comes after federal prosecutors said Hunter Biden’s claims that he is the victim of a vindictive prosecution in his Delaware gun case were “absurd.”
President Joe Biden’s son has cast himself as the victim in the case, blaming his father’s political rivals and former President Donald Trump for his situation. Similar to Trump, Hunter Biden has continued to claim the government is out to get him for political reasons.
Prosecutors, led by special counsel David Weiss, indicted Hunter Biden in September 2023 in federal court in Delaware on three counts tied to the possession of a gun while using drugs. Two of the counts involve allegations that he allegedly lied on a form attesting that he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver in October 2018. The third count alleges that he possessed a firearm while using illegal drugs.
Prosecutors previously said those claims don’t withstand scrutiny, especially with his father sitting in the White House.
In court filings, Weiss and his team have laid out more details about the evidence they plan to use against the president’s son.
Prosecutors revealed they had evidence beyond Hunter Biden’s 2022 book: “Beautiful Things: A Memoir,” which detailed his drug use at the time he owned the Colt Cobra revolver at the center of the charges. Investigators found cocaine on the gun pouch.
“After the defendant’s then-girlfriend discovered and discarded his gun, and after he became aware that local authorities had seized his gun, speed loader, and ammunition, and after the defendant announced his awareness of a federal investigation of him in 2020, the defendant chose to author and sell a book in 2021 in which he made countless incriminating statements about his years-long drug usage, including during the time period he purchased and possessed the gun,” prosecutors wrote. “He recounted his interaction with a drug dealer who pointed a gun at him during a drug deal before he decided to buy his own gun. Investigators also obtained messages from his Apple iCloud account in which he discussed buying thousands of dollars’ worth of crack while also taking videos of himself weighing crack and smoking it. Furthermore, a chemist was able to confirm the presence of cocaine residue on the brown leather pouch in which defendant stored his firearm.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney has said Republican interference at the U.S. Department of Justice prompted the gun charges against President Biden’s son.
Hunter Biden’s previous plea deal on gun and tax fraud charges fell apart in July 2023 after last-minute disagreements over the degree to which Hunter Biden could face future charges for other alleged crimes still possibly under investigation. That plea deal revolved around alleged tax crimes and a single gun charge. The new indictment includes three separate charges related to Hunter’s possession of the gun.
If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 10 years in prison on the first two counts and five years on the third count.
