Hunter Biden found guilty in gun possession trial | Special Report

[Music] this is a CBS News special report I'm nor odonnell in Washington and we are coming on the air with breaking news from the Federal Gun trial of Hunter Biden the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal charges we have just learned that the jury of six men and six women have reached a verdict after deliberating for roughly three hours over two days we have learned that he has been found guilty on all three counts Hunter Biden was charged with two felony counts uh for lying on a form required to purchase a firearm in 2018 then there was a third charge also a felony for being in possession of a firearm while abusing or being addicted to drugs our Congressional correspondent Scott McFarland is outside the courthouse in Delaware he has been following this case from the beginning with news on this verdict Scott Nora didn't take this jury long one hour of deliberation yesterday two hours this morning they come back guilty on all three counts for the president's son which races the prospect the president's son Hunter could face a prison sentence when this case goes to sentencing likely later this year the three charges all involved a gun he bought in October 2018 a gun the FED say he bought knowing he was a drug user knowing he was addicted to drugs and therefore illegally and for filing a false statement on the background check form when he didn't mark that he was a drug user or drug addict the defense in this case especially in closing arguments yesterday tried to hinge its arguments that Hunter Biden may have been in recovery or getting sober in October 2018 and therefore didn't knowingly violate the law that argument did not sway the six-man six wom jury from Wilmington Delaware and it's noteworthy as Hunter Biden walked back in the courtroom a few moments ago this day has been a singular day for Hunter Biden in previous days his whole family was here the first lady was here his father the president's sister was here today it's Hunter Biden in the courtroom learning his fate at the defense table with his attorney Abby low and Scott let's talk about what Hunter Biden faces now this is him walking in uh with his wife earlier today I my understanding is that each of the three counts has a maximum fine of $250,000 and that Biden faces up to 25 years in prison but is also understanding the first time offenders don't get anywhere near that what do we know yeah the federal sentencing guidelines are going to be calibrated between now and the sentencing date we're waiting to learn the sentencing date we could find it out in a few moments could be early to midf of this year um Federal sentencing guidelines will likely be calibrated to to account for Hunter Biden having no criminal record for having no federal felonies in his past for a case that often gets pleaded out and doesn't go to trial there'll be arguments by the defense and by the department of Justice's special counsil as to what's an appropriate prison sentence then the same judge who heard this trial marielen Nara a trump appointee to the bench will determine his fate at sentencing but yeah this is a federal firearms fell it carries the risk or the prospect of prison time for the president's son at the end of what was the first ever criminal trial of a sitting President's child Scott McFarland thank you want to bring in Major Garrett our chief Washington correspondent and major there's been a lot of focus on Hunter tax evasion charges and this in particular now guilty on all three counts so nor the last month in our country has been a conversation about application of Justice how high does it go can the high be brought down brought Low by the application of the law and juries have decided that in not one but two cases both unprecedented in our history a former president being indicted Donald Trump convicted by a jury and now the son of a president and this question is Justice applied fairly is there political motives well the White House and Democrats would argue well if you think that there is some sort of prosecutorial misconduct with Trump look the president's own son is in a Federal Courthouse has now been found guilty by a jury of his peers the broader application of this whole question will course through the presidential campaign what is Justice how is it being applied and is it being done in a way that is overtly political both sides will argue that but now the country will see a former president and a sitting president's son both facing either probation or some kind of Reckoning with law from cases that really or from uh alleged wrongdoing that dates back in this case with Hunter Biden to 2018 also want to bring in uh Jan Crawford our chief legal correspondent what about that that people have made the case that the law has been applied unequally to Donald Trump and here the president son convicted in Delaware a state that had knows the bidens quite well Democratic State well I mean I think there are a couple parallels in both cases they were both unusual prosecutions in both cases Standalone charges uh you know whether it's the business records hinging on this election law charge for former president Trump in New York or here a standalone charge uh owning and and getting a gun if you're a drug addict uh without any other crimes bringing in here whether it's a crime of violence with that gun that's really unusual I mean those cases are very rarely prosecuted as major and Scott already have pointed out so we have two cases uh with with somewhat unusual prosecutions we have two guilty verdicts and now we're going to see two different different types of appeals and I think uh you know Hunter Biden uh has some decent arguments on appeal what's interesting is that he's going to find a greater reception with some of those judges on the appeals courts who were appointed by former president Trump they have been much more sympathetic to arguments that some of these gun laws like a felon uh or a drug addict being in possession of a gun May violate the Second Amendment he will make that argument eventually after he goes through some of his State Court Appeals Tri real quickly that in a different era both president Trump and Hunter Biden thought they were in the clear Hunter Biden thought his attorneys had adjudicated this case and was all going to be handled right and then this judge looked at it and said no I I think this needs a closer look there were times that other prosecutors looked at the Trump case and said we're not going to carry that forward and former president Trump thought I'm in the clear in both instances people who are now rendered guilty thought they were in the clear and they found out they were not I want to bring in CBS is Erica Brown because she has just come out of that courtroom where she witnessed Hunter Biden being read that verdict in Erica I know you've been in the courtroom uh for much of this trial tell us what you saw today yeah so as the jury filed into that courtroom Hunter Biden he stood up he had his hands crossed in front of him and then the courtroom Deputy actually delivered the verdict we didn't hear it from the for person or another member of the jury so as that verdict was actually read by the courtroom Deputy Hunter Biden stayed seated with his attorneys next to him he was looking directly at the courtroom Deputy he distributed very little emotion we didn't notice anything major just watching as each guilty their verdict came down and then after the verdict was delivered he touched both of his attorneys hugged them his wife behind him after it was over he hugged them he hugged her embraced her so during this process he exhibited very little emotion for the most part he was just paying attention and then afterward reaching over to both of his attorneys AB David kolansky thanking them ER Brown thank you for that want to bring in Robert Costa our chief campaign and election correspondent and uh Robert we've been through many unprecedented times with not only Joe Biden and Donald Trump but now this presents a significant s step for Hunter Biden in his recovery as well as the president's re-election that's exactly right Nora throughout American history we've seen presidential family members run into trouble whether it's Billy Carter or Roger Clinton what makes the hunter Biden situation in this conviction so different based on my conversations with those very close to President Biden is that Hunter is so close to the president you think about the history they've shared together going back to late 1972 when Hunter's mother Joe Biden's first wife killed in a car accident bonded B and Hunter to their father at that moment closer than ever and he has remained so close to the president while the President Biden has been in the White House a fixture often inside the residents at the White House on vacations on flights with the president and so when I talk to people close to Biden they say this is a legal proceeding but it's also a personal proceeding that the president feels a lot of pain about the Reckoning his son has dealt with with addiction issues over the years and he wants to be there for his son even as he runs for re-election deals with former president Trump and all of the issues throughout the world people who know Biden say you really can't under talk about how much hunch on the mind of the president every day if you know President Biden he calls his children and his grandchildren every single day he is a family man who stays very close uh with his kids let me ask you though Robert recently President Biden gave an interview where he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden if convicted and we will see if that position holds in the coming months pardons are something that are can be discussed deliberated a position can change for now that is the president's position but presidents often issue pardin to those who are close to them those who they feel might deserve a second chance so I don't rule out as a reporter that decision being reconsidered in the coming year or so but at this time the president is saying no pardon for his son but that was before the conviction took place and he was not asked the president was not as to follow up about whether he would commute under Biden's sentence which would also be an option under presidential Powers let me also bring in Scott McFarland who's there outside the courthouse he has some more information about sentencing what can you tell us Scott yeah the judge said she has not going to set a firm sentencing date this moment but estimated sentencing would be about 120 days from now that's usually the Rhythm and pattern of the federal courts it's about 3 to four months after a guilty verdict that a sentencing hearing is held 120 days puts you right in the heart of October right on the precip of the election you we'll note that former president Trump has his sentencing just days before the Republican National Convention Hunter Biden could have his sentencing just days before the election and in the federal system it's incredibly rare for a defendant to be immediately what they call stepped back brought immediately to a federal prison facility it would likely that Hunter Biden if he were sentenced to prison would have some lag time before he'd have to report which could put that right at the precipice of the end of the term of this presidency so you have a lot of variables at play as they go to sentencing We'll add also from our team in the courtroom itself the president's sister Valerie Biden stepped in just after the sentencing was announced Jimmy Biden was there for the verdict the first lady of the United States was not here today she was here though for five of the six days of trial Scott McFarland thank you worth noting that Valerie Biden is not only the sister of the current President Joe Biden but she is also the one who cared for Hunter and B after their mother was tragically killed in the car accident that Robert was talking about earlier so she is very very close uh with Hunter and the now deceased Bo Biden uh the other president's uh son I do want to bring in former deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom Dupri and Tom it's likely Hunter Biden is going to appeal this verdict and based on this case what would be some of the grounds for appeal well I think one possible ground for appeal is a second amendment argument that he can basically argue that the law that prohibits the sale or possession of firearms by persons under the influence of controlled substances is unconstitutional that it violates his second amendment rights it certainly would be no small irony in a year full of ironies if Hunter Biden ended up being the poster boy for an expansion of second amendment rights but when you look at this trial record I don't really see a lot of other avenues for them to pursue I thought the evidence was fairly overwhelming against them and so the defense's best Hope on appeal might lie in trying to persuade the court of appeals that this whole proceeding violated his right to bear arms and what would be the time the timing on that appeals process well it would be many months at a minimum um my guess is that if sentencing is imposed sometime as Scott was reporting in the fall you would probably see an appeal get underway in 2025 but I wouldn't expect to get a decision from the court of appeals until sometime probably late next year late 2025 we'll be looking at and Tom what do you think were some of the the key some of the key evidence for the prosecution oh where to begin the prosecution had a mountain of all sorts of evidence it really was a prosecutor's dream in terms of the breadth and the scope of the evidence that they brought to bear here they certainly had very powerful testimony from Witnesses including people who are so close to Hunter Biden throughout his life uh ex-wife ex-girlfriend his daughter uh testifying about his struggles with addiction the jury also saw documentary evidence the forms in question that he filled out falsely uh and of course maybe the most powerful evidence of all was Hunter Biden's own words the jury heard his voice resonating through the courtroom reading from his autobiography talking about his use of crack they also saw his text messages again but from the prosecutor's perspective one of the most powerful pieces of evidence you can give to a jury is to confront the defendant with his own words and the prosecution had no shortage of Hunter Biden's own words to use against him in this case and then Tom finally as a former Federal prosecutor do you think Hunter Biden will go to prison I do I do I think that the sentence here is not going to be unduly severe uh this is his really is effectively a first-time offender I suspect that the judge will look somewhat sympathetically on this case I don't see this as a case where the judge is going to be looking at an upper range of the sentence and guidelines my sense is that the likeliest outcome would be a sent sentence of incarceration but for a fairly limited period you know we'd be talking a year or two not five or six and then Tom I referenced this earlier and the president has not been asked this or ruled this out but could President Biden commute that sentence well I he he could and I know he said at least he's not planning to Pardon Hunter Biden but keep in mind that's a promise made in May and or June and I suspect that the world will change between now and no November and President Biden may look at things very differently come November so although yes the idea of a pardon or a commutation is off the table right now I suspect it may come back with a vengeance after the election Tom thank you and just in case people don't know the difference between a pardon and a commutation the president was asked specifically about a pardon correct right yeah he was asked only about a pardon and this brings us back to where we started and commute means to cut short in other words a sentence amate in some measure a prison sentence but this brings us back nor to where we started from a political perspective this is a clash of the legal system and political calculations and everyone will see that and the president will be under tremendous political pressure not to intervene in any way to say the law applies equally and to live by that in former president Trump's case but also intimately so possibly heartbreakingly so in the case of his son we are watching Hunter Biden uh leave uh the courtroom uh now he does have Secret Service protection and he is getting into one of those black SUVs there I do want to bring in our political correspondent Caitlyn huy Burns because she is at the White House and Caitlyn we are expected to see the president in just a couple hours from now correct yes that's right Nora he is here at the white house but he is actually expected to speak later today on the topic of gun violence and what the administration has done to try to curb uh gun violence as well he has not made any public statements about this news of the verdict we have not heard from the White House or the Biden campaign but I do want to uh remind our audience of statements that he has made in the past that give a window into his worldview on this case and the American justice system remember on the day that the trial began Biden issued a statement saying I am the president but I am also a dad as president I don't and I won't com comment on ending Federal cases but as a dad I have boundless love for my son confidence in him and respect for his strength as you also mentioned earlier he had ruled out a pardon for his son in an interview last week and when the Trump conviction came down those 34 counts in the uh criminal case in New York Biden also uh gave a statement saying that this is how the American justice system works he said it's Reckless it's dangerous and it's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged because they don't like the verdict he also said that the American justice system is literally the Cornerstone of democracy it should be respected and we should never let anyone tear it down so as we await for his comments on this particular verdict we have his comments about the verdict of his political rival and the American justice system all right Caitlyn Huey Burns at the White House with that news that the president of the United States will be participating in a gun safety event along with every town shortly at the White House we'll see if he is makes remarks or uh is asked about that let's bring in Scott McFarland and Erica Brown one more time they're outside the courthouse Scott the first lady arrived at this Courthouse after the verdict was read she was a late arrival as everybody was scrambling back to this courthouse so she ended up being in the courthouse but not there for the reading of the ver but she was there front row so prominent throughout this trial and you'll note that the prosecution mentioned that in closing arguments that's right at the very beginning of their closing arguments yesterday Federal prosecutor Leo wise told jurors the people sitting in the gallery are not evidence because their presence was felt in that courtroom they were in the direct line of view of jurors and that jurors should only consider the evidence brought for by the prosecution and her Biden's defense attorneys and Nora just noting here the family tragedy that unfolded over seven days that the first lady watched play out it was Hunter Biden's brother's widow testifying about his drug use a woman with whom he had a romantic relationship his ex-wife his own daughter describing Norah his descent into drug addiction and all the family relationships that broke apart along the way yeah Scott and Erica you were inside uh the the courtroom for much of that what was it like well I will tell you Nora most people in the gallery were focused on that very first road behind Hunter Biden looking at First Lady Joe Biden looking at members of the Biden fames to see how they would react to some of the evidence that the prosecution put forth a lot of that the prosecution acknowledged was very personal very ugly very overwhelming but in their own words absolutely necessary to prove that Hunter Biden was a user of drugs and an addict during this period in which he purchased and kept that firearm for 11 days and so you could hear Ain drob in certain instances when the when prosecution presented evidence especially when we heard Hunter Biden's own voice when he read those excerpts from his book chronicling his drug use over a period of four years so people were attentive jurors were taking notes on large legal pads at Point at certain points they were dozing off but for the most part they were attentive during those periods where they saw drug paraphernalia images of drugs videos of drugs on a scale hearing Hunter Biden's own voice but a lot of the attention honestly was in that very first R looking at how the first family was responding or reacting to some of that evidence Erica Brown Scott McFarland outside the courthouse thank you so much just to recap Hunter Biden the president's son has been found guilty on all counts he could face as much as 25 years in prison and fines up to $750,000 according to court filings it is according to proc uors and other former Justice Department officials probably unlikely that he would get that maximum penalty but Tom Dupri who served in the Justice Department just told us he believes that Hunter Biden could in fact get some jail time even as a firsttime offender uh this is serious for the president it's serious for his son uh Jan has noted there are legitimate grounds for an appeal but this was also I think probably very difficult and emotional for the Biden family to relive as any family would someone who has battled through Addiction in such a public way there's a scene in Hunter Biden's Memoir that he's often talked about where his father and and mother Joe Biden his late mother of course passed away in 72 invite him to come to the home and they stage an intervention and he runs down the driveway and he says he just keeps running and running and running back to drug addiction back to conduct that's incorrect or unseemly and he acknowledges this throughout his Memoir that that his father tried to intervene tried to bring him along to change his behavior but he is someone who has dealt with issues for a long time and for many families who have dealt with addiction this is a story that's all too true all too real and it's now playing out for the first family but President Biden so on I've seen him in Delaware he always says the the value of the Biden name you know take my word as a Biden now the Biden name is in this trial convicted and and for someone those who know him say it hurts it hurts I think I just think we have to remember too I mean this is kind of the culmination of what is a really bizarre series of events that started uh in what was initially and widely believed to be Russian propaganda um and allegations of wrongdoing in Ukraine and and dirty dealing by the president's son involving the president this was a very narrow case uh that was ultimately brought it had nothing to do with President Biden it was solely focused on uh that drug addiction that drug use signing that form and then possessing that weapon for those 11 days in October and like I said I mean this is a rare case to bring a standal trial a drug addict getting a gun and then possessing a gun uh but they do get brought and there has been jail time and to what Tom debris said uh perhaps there will be in this case but I do think going back uh he will have grounds for appeal uh potentially Good Grounds and there's a Supreme Court case right now we're waiting on that could provide additional guidance on that as well nor every presidential family is part of the American family that that's the way it works this is a tragedy for the Biden family precipitated in large measure by the death of Bo Biden for eight years the Attorney General of Delaware not the favored son but the more prominent of the two sons Hunter Biden's problems began to spiral that is a word that is used in addiction therapy with some frequency after Bo's death he simply could not grapple with it he made a ton of terrible decisions involving many members of the Biden family who had to find their way in through and out of this trial that family drama played out in a courtroom in ways we've never seen before doesn't make it any less painful for the nation or for the family but the verdict is now real and the consequences will apply want to bring in h Scott McFarland and Erica Brown one more time who are there outside the courthouse what happens now there'll be a series of court filings Norah in advance of a sentencing hearing and again there's no firm date yet for the sentencing hearing but the judge estimates 120 days which is mid October so look in August and September for both sides to make their recommendation almost certainly the defense will recommend no prison time a non-custodial sentence they call it they'll file their paperwork and their argument the department of Justice's special counsel David Weiss will file his recommendation likely very late summer potentially recommending a prison sentence then there is a hearing there are arguments Hunter Biden will be given the chance to to speak and ask for leniency and ask for Mercy before the judge Mariela Nora issues the sentence all of this could come in the footsteps of the 2024 election the timing here is real all right Erica Brown thank you for all your reporting on this trial and being inside Scott McFarland as well thank you thanks to everyone uh here as well for your reporting and Analysis once again breaking news from Wilmington Delaware in the first ever trial of a sitting President's child Hunter Biden is found guilty on all three counts in his federal gun case president's only surviving son was charged with two felonies of lying on a Federal Form required to purchase a firearm in 2018 and then a third charge also a felony for being in possession of a firearm while abusing or being addicted to drugs Hunter Biden facing up to 25 years in prison but there is no sentencing date yet or set just yet although Scott says it could come in about 3 to 4 months from now our coverage will continue on CBS News 20 247 your local news and then tonight on the CBS Evening News we will hear from the president in just a couple hours from now this has been a CBS News special report I'm Nora odonnell in Washington

Channel: CBS News

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Keywords: hunter biden, joe biden, donald trump, republicans, democrats, politics, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Politics, Democrats, Hunter Biden, CBS News, U.S.

Id: rVy9VQcMnPU

Length: 26min 52sec (1612 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 11 2024