It has been called "the other" major political trial in the US.
The federal trial against Hunter Biden is now underway. The president's son has been charged with lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm.
"I was a crack addict. I had no plan beyond crack's recurring demand."
The words are President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, as they are read in his memoir "Beautiful Things" (Beautiful Things), published in 2021 by the 54-year-old lawyer and businessman.
They may now be used against him. This in a politically charged trial in his home state of Delaware, which starts just days after the high-profile New York trial against former President Donald Trump.
Hunter Biden has been charged by Trump-appointed district attorney and special prosecutor David Weiss on three counts. Weiss claims that Biden did not tell the truth about his use when he bought a Colt revolver in the fall of 2018 and then illegally possessed the weapon for a time. The case focuses on the federal form that Biden filled out when he bought the gun, where he swore that he did not use or abuse drugs, according to media.
Witness testimony from, among others, Hunter Biden's ex-wife and evidence in the form of his memoir, revealing photos, and text messages to acquaintances are expected, according to newspaper reports.
Hunter Biden denies the charges and claims to be innocent. The defense plans to question what it means to be aware of one's addiction and to emphasize that Biden, at the time of the purchase, had just completed treatment for drug addiction.
If convicted, Biden faces up to 25 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. But the trial is also seen as a test for Donald Trump, who has long claimed that the Democratic Party is corrupt.
Weiss has also charged Hunter Biden with tax fraud in California. And Trump loyalists in the House of Representatives began a impeachment process against the president last fall. In it, it is alleged that Joe Biden used his political positions to help his son make business deals in Ukraine. No direct evidence has been presented.
The guilty verdict against Donald Trump in New York was historic, as it was the first time a former president or presidential candidate of a major party had been charged in a criminal case. But Hunter Biden's trial will also be remembered for a long time, as it is the first time a child of a sitting president has been put on trial in a criminal case.
Jury selection for the trial is expected to begin on Monday and is expected to last around two weeks.
Hunter Biden, born in 1970, is a businessman and lawyer with a degree from prestigious Yale University. He is the son of the current President of the United States, Joe Biden, and his first wife, Neilia Hunter.
Hunter Biden's tragic childhood history is well-known: in 1972, his mother and one-year-old sister died in a car accident. Hunter and his older brother Beau were in the car and were injured but survived. Their father, who had been elected to the Senate just a month earlier, became a single father and was known as the "commuter" between his home in Wilmington and Washington DC.
In 1977, Joe Biden remarried to educator Jill Tracy Jacobs. In 1981, they had a daughter, Ashley Biden.
Joe Biden was a senator from Delaware for 36 years. In 2009, he was sworn in as Vice President under Barack Obama and in 2021 became President of the United States after defeating Donald Trump in the election.
In 2015, the family suffered another tragedy when Joe Biden's eldest son Beau died of brain cancer.
Hunter Biden has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for much of his life. His business dealings in Ukraine, particularly his partnership with the energy company Burisma, have been the subject of several investigations.
