So much for the myth that the American justice system is “rigged.” The jury verdict finding Hunter Biden guilty on all counts in his gun case in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, delivers a blow to him, his father, and Donald Trump.

Like Trump, Hunter Biden is discovering that his past is catching up to him. 

The jury found Biden guilty on three federal felony gun charges, including lying about his drug addiction when purchasing a handgun in 2018 in Delaware. 

He could face a maximum of 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000. Sentencing will take place in 120 days. It is unlikely that Biden will receive such a draconian sentence.

However, the fact that the jury found him guilty and that he faces another upcoming trial on tax charges in California indicates that fresh turmoil awaits the already troubled son of President Biden.

Hunter Biden and the 2024 Election: What Joe Biden Could Do 

The case offers an opportunity for Joe Biden to set himself apart from Trump, who will doubtless try to seize upon the guilty verdict to portray Hunter as an integral part of a Biden crime family. Trump’s ambition is to blur the line between him and the Bidens and, indeed, to suggest that he is the true victim. 

But Biden can draw stark contrasts between himself and Trump. Biden has already stated that he will not pardon Hunter. He will also surely announce that he accepts the jury's verdict. In contrast to Trump, he has not fulminated about a witch hunt, disparaged the judge, or cast aspersion upon the jury itself.

The verdict should probably not come as a surprise. The prosecution ably used Biden’s words against himself, including his confession in his 2021 memoir Beautiful Things that “all my energy revolved around smoking drugs and making arrangements to buy drugs—feeding the beast.” He fed the beast, and it ended up devouring him.

The tragedy is not confined to Hunter, of course. It swept up Hallie Biden, his former girlfriend and the wife of his older brother Beau. She delivered a blow-by-blow account, as it were, of his addiction to crack cocaine, explaining that he purchased and smoked it before procuring a handgun. Like Trump in Manhattan, Biden could do little other than watch mutely as his past transgressions were recounted.

Like Trump, however, Biden did not engage in what amounted to an election coverup. He engaged in what were peccadilloes—what the Catholic Church refers to as venial sins. For Joe Biden, though, the verdict will deliver a psychic blow. He idolized his first son. Did he neglect his second one? Does he feel inculpated by his son's difficulties? The outcome of the trial may not reshape the presidential race, but it will weigh heavily on him. For Hunter, it has been all turmoil and no triumph.

About the Author: Jacob Heilbrunn

Jacob Heilbrunn is editor of The National Interest and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He has written on both foreign and domestic issues for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Reuters, Washington Monthly, and The Weekly Standard. He has also written for German publications such as Cicero, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Der Tagesspiegel. In 2008, his book They Knew They Were Right: the Rise of the Neocons was published by Doubleday. It was named one of the one hundred notable books of the year by The New York Times. He is the author of America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators.

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