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Hunter Biden trial puts first family鈥檚 travails in election-year spotlight

The criminal trial of Hunter Biden, the president鈥檚 only surviving son, has shined a light on the human, legal, and political dramas swirling within and beyond the first family.

Reduced to essentials, the case is not complicated: The younger Mr. Biden faces three federal felony counts in Wilmington, Delaware, related to his 2018 purchase of a firearm during a period when he struggled with drug addiction. His defense centers on whether he knowingly lied on the gun-purchase form, where he said he was not using illegal drugs, a required condition for buying firearms. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison.聽聽

Mr. Biden has also been indicted on federal charges of tax evasion, a case scheduled for trial in California in September. The two cases stem from the implosion of a plea deal last summer that would have immunized the first son from future potential charges.聽

The Hunter Biden case pales in significance to the legal woes of former President Donald Trump, who was found guilty last month of falsifying business records in a hush-money deal with a porn star. Mr. Trump, the GOP鈥檚 presumptive presidential nominee in November, has also been indicted in three other criminal cases.

Hunter Biden, of course, isn鈥檛 running for office 鈥� let alone reelection as president, as his father is. And certainly the specter of a presidential relative facing personal and legal problems is nothing new. Throughout history, many presidents have had family members who have attracted embarrassing (or worse) public attention.聽

But for President Joe Biden, whose life has been marked by tragedy, his son鈥檚 saga represents an unprecedented dimension in the heat of a presidential election campaign already unlike any other.聽

As a political matter, the Hunter Biden gun case is unlikely to have an impact, analysts say. Even if voters across the political spectrum themselves have experience with relatives struggling with addiction, 鈥淚 suspect reactions will be heavily dependent on party ID,鈥� says Michael Traugott, a presidential scholar emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.聽

鈥淩epublicans, especially, are not likely to be swayed by this in any positive way or accept a very sympathetic view,鈥� Professor Traugott says.聽

President Biden has sought to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest. When asked last week in an ABC News interview if he would accept the outcome of his son鈥檚 trial, he said 鈥測es.鈥� The president also in the event of a conviction.

At the same time, Mr. Biden accused Mr. Trump of trying to undermine the rule of law in the former president鈥檚 claim that his conviction last month in a New York state case was politically motivated. Two of Mr. Trump鈥檚 remaining cases are federal, sparking accusations by the former president and his allies that the Biden administration has weaponized the Justice Department against him.聽聽

That the Hunter Biden case is also federal cuts a bit into that argument, as have federal indictments of two Democratic lawmakers 鈥� Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas.聽

Biden critics counter that the earlier Hunter Biden plea deal was a 鈥渟weetheart鈥� arrangement by his father鈥檚 Justice Department that collapsed at the last minute only because the judge blew the whistle.聽

House Republicans also intend to keep pursuing their investigation into Hunter Biden鈥檚 business dealings, which they say also implicates the president. Last week, the Republican chairs of three House committees urged the Justice Department to charge Hunter Biden and the president鈥檚 brother James Biden with making false statements to Congress. The allegations come within an ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden.聽

鈥淣ow, we鈥檙e going to do everything we can to hold Hunter Biden and all the different shady associates accountable. This is just the beginning,鈥� on Fox Business. 鈥淏ut the next step will be accountability for Joe Biden.鈥�

The impeachment inquiry into President Biden has so far failed to surface firm evidence of wrongdoing, despite claims that he had abused his office for financial gain. But if Mr. Trump wins in November, against his political enemies, including Mr. Biden.聽

For the president, the trial of his son represents nothing less than the latest chapter in a life marked by tragedy. Early in his political career, President Biden lost his first wife 鈥� Hunter鈥檚 mother 鈥� in a car crash, along with the Bidens鈥� baby daughter when Hunter and his brother, Beau, were young boys. Beau Biden, seen as the family鈥檚 rising political star, died of cancer in 2015.聽

After that loss, Hunter Biden went into a spiral of drug abuse and infidelity, destroying his marriage. After Beau鈥檚 death, Hunter and Beau鈥檚 widow, Hallie Biden, became romantically involved, ensnaring her as well in drug use for a time. Both Hallie Biden and Hunter Biden鈥檚 ex-wife,聽Kathleen Buhle, testified at the trial for the prosecution, in an extraordinary airing of family dysfunction unprecedented in modern American presidential politics.聽

Hunter Biden鈥檚 oldest daughter, Naomi Biden Neal, testified Friday for the defense, saying that her father had gained control of his drug abuse at the time he purchased a gun 鈥� an effort to show that Mr. Biden hadn鈥檛 lied on his firearms application. But on cross-examination, the prosecution seemed to undermine Ms. Biden Neal鈥檚 testimony by presenting contemporaneous text messages between her and her father portraying anguish over his behavior.聽

Biden family members have shown up daily to support Hunter 鈥� including first lady Jill Biden, who shuttled back and forth between France (where her husband was traveling) and Wilmington. A remaining question, as the trial was expected to head soon to the jury, was whether Hunter Biden himself would testify. Monday morning, the defense announced he would not.

The jury deliberated for one hour Monday and is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m.