Latest Hunter Biden: Trump campaign reacts to guilty verdict – as Joe Biden issues statement | US News

By Mark Stone, American correspondent

This is another unprecedented moment for America. The son of a sitting president has been convicted of three counts in federal court.

Beyond the gravity of the crime itself, the trial lifted the veil on the multiple struggles and tragedies of a family. It could be any number of American families, except it’s the nation’s first family.

At its heart, it’s a story of addiction, loss and heartbreak that led to a criminal conviction. But because it’s about the Bidens, it’s also, inevitably, a story about politics and scandal.

The first family’s private troubles played out in a public courtroom because a family member lied to get a gun.

This is a case that has almost never been judged. A plea deal had been reached: Hunter Biden would plead guilty to tax fraud and the gun charges would be dropped.

But the plan collapsed.

Just as Donald Trump was told he was not above the law, so was Joe Biden’s son. A trial began and history was made when the son of the sitting president entered the courtroom.

Lying to Get a Gun

The trial centered on a single document: a firearm application form. Signed by Hunter and dated October 12, 2018, it has an “X” in a particular box – a cross that precipitated this case.

Hunter had answered “no” to the question of whether the plaintiff had a drug problem.

After a week of evidence, the prosecution was able to demonstrate that it was a lie.

Hunter Biden was addicted to and using crack cocaine, they concluded, at the time he purchased the handgun.

The jurors, who were their own reflections of modern America because most of them had family ties to drug addiction, were guided through little more than a week of evidence.

A complex web of relationships within the first family has been dissected in detail.

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