Christian Smith
- The trial is scheduled to begin on June 3
- Hunter Biden faces accusations of lying about drug use to buy a gun
- He also faces tax charges in a separate case
(NewsNation) – In the final hearing before trial, prosecutors and the defense in Hunter Biden’s gun charge case agreed that a government-obtained laptop could be used as evidence, but that his California tax case and the case Child support benefits in Arkansas are off limits.
President Joe Biden’s son did not speak to reporters as he followed his lawyers to the Wilmington courthouse. He is accused of lying about his drug use in October 2018 on an application to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days in Delaware. He acknowledged his crack addiction during that period, but his lawyers said he did not break the law and that the case was politically motivated.
The pretrial hearing is expected to be the last before the case comes to court on June 3.
The two sides have argued over whether to admit evidence in court documents that led to the case. The other lawsuits facing the president’s son have been a point of contention, as has the laptop, which Republicans seized as part of ongoing investigations into President Joe Biden and his family.
Materials from the laptop include emails, financial records, business records and media that have proven embarrassing to Hunter Biden, including sexually explicit videos and photos of him using drugs.
Biden’s lawyers argued that a computer repair technician admitted to accessing confidential information when it was taken to a Delaware repair shop in 2019, potentially tampering with the device. That’s part of the reason they argued against using it as evidence. His defense team also accused the prosecution of being slow in producing evidence.
Prosecutors, in turn, argued that there is no evidence that the material was tampered with. The prosecution has also signaled its intention to use parts of Biden’s memoirs, which include emotional anecdotes about his drug addiction, meaning the trial could become personal for the first son.
The judge ruled that prosecutors can assume the laptop evidence is intact, but the defense can challenge it on a case-by-case basis.
Other details regarding the evidence were discussed at the hearing, including a stipulation that the government must demonstrate that monetary transactions are related to drug use, if they make reference to them.
The indictment also can only refer to Biden’s California tax case as a “criminal investigation” or evidence as “found/obtained through the appropriate chain.” His child support case in Arkansas was considered out of bounds.
The trial comes after a plea deal fell through last year after a judge questioned the deal’s leniency.
Biden’s trial in California was also initially scheduled to begin in June, but his lawyers successfully argued for a delay, moving the trial date closer to the fall.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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