Hunter Biden: Prosecutors seek indictment by Sept. 29

Federal prosecutors will seek to bring charges against Hunter Biden by the end of the month, the Justice Departmentsaid.

The special counsel, David Weiss, who was elevated to the position last month to investigate the legal tribulations of US President Joe Biden's son, wrote: "The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest."

"The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date," he said in a court filing.

The exact charges and the number of charges to be brought against Hunter Biden are not clear, though it appears related to a gun possession case in which he was accused of having a firearm while using drugs. 

Weiss has been investigating cases against Hunter Biden for five years. He was the attorney for Delaware before being appointed special counsel.

Hunter Biden's legal woes

Hunter Biden has had legal woes for years now, but the possibility of a trial as an election season looms has garnered attention.

The filing from Weiss comes after a plea deal with Biden fell apart before it could be approved by a judge.

Biden's gun-related troubles began in 2018 when he purchased a firearm while being a drug user.

He was also charged with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 (€93,255) in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018.⁠

Plea deal collapses

Biden was prepared to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay taxes as well as enter a diversion program relating to a failure to acknowledge drug use when purchasing the gun.

However, the plea deal collapsed while it was being reviewed by a judge in July. Defense attorneys, for their part, said Hunter Biden has kept to the terms of their original agreement with prosecutors on the gun charge.

That calls for sparing him from prosecution if he stays clean and out of trouble for two years, and his lawyer argued it remains in force. Prosecutors disagreed.

House Republicans push for probe

The younger Biden has been the target of congressional investigations since Republicans gained control of the House in January.

Lawmakers have since obtained thousands of pages of financial records through subpoenas to various institutions and have sought to connect his financial affairs directly to his father.

They have failed to produce any evidence that the president directly participated in his son's work, though he sometimes had dinner with Hunter Biden's clients.

Joe Biden announced his bid for reelection earlier this year. His potential main Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, is facing a string of criminal cases.

rm/nm (Reuters, AP)