Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the federal gun case against Hunter Biden in Delaware.
Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, faces three counts tied to possession of a gun while using narcotics. He pleaded not guilty.
The beginning of Biden’s trial comes just days after the conclusion of a criminal trial against the man his father is running against in the presidential race, former President Donald Trump. Trump was convicted of all 34 counts against him in state court in New York.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika said she plans on calling potential jurors in groups of 50 until they’re able to find 12 people who say they can be impartial when it comes to the president’s son.
According to a court filing, among the questions she plans to ask potential jurors in the Wilmington courthouse are, “Do your views regarding the 2024 election or of any of the candidates for president in any way prevent you from being a fair and impartial juror in this case,” and “Do you believe Robert Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case because his father is the President of the United States and a candidate for President?” Another asks if they believe he “is not being prosecuted for other crimes because his father is the President of the United States.”
Conservative critics of the president have long sought to use his son’s legal issues against him. The president has denied any involvement in his son’s legal troubles or business matters, and efforts but the Republican-led impeachment inquiry to find evidence of wrongdoing by the president have come up short.
Other questions relate to jurors’ views on guns, including “Do you believe that all people should be permitted by law to buy or possess a firearm regardless of whether they have been or are a user of a controlled substance or addicted to a controlled substance?” Another asks, “Do you believe that the government should not be able to require a background check for a gun purchase?”
Two of the counts accuse Biden of having completed a form indicating he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra revolver in Oct. 2018. The third count alleges he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic. The indictment said Biden certified on a federally mandated form “that he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious.”
Prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss‘s office say they plan to call around 12 witnesses. Among the witnesses they’re expected to call are Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, and his late brother’s widow, Hallie Olivere Biden.
Prosecutors are also expected to use portions of Hunter Biden’s memoir “Beautiful Things” as evidence against him, as well as a summary of data from his phone and iPad.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has said that he wants to call the owner of the gun shop as a witness, and would also like to call two to three expert witnesses. Weiss’s office has challenged the testimony of some of the experts.
The trial is expected to last two weeks, the judge, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, has said.
At a May hearing, Noreika ruled that prosecutors would not be able to mention their other pending case against Hunter Biden in California, where he’s facing nine tax-related charges. He’s pleaded not guilty in that case, which is scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 5.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
