US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was ordered yesterday to appear in a Delaware court on October 3 to face gun charges, after he sought to avoid showing up personally in the case.

Federal judge Christopher Burke rejected Hunter’s request to appear by video, in which he said he did not want to cause a disruption arriving at the courthouse with his Secret Service escort.

“The defendant should not receive any special treatment in this matter,” Burke wrote in his ruling.

Burke though gave Hunter an extra week to comply, from the date originally set for the hearing, September 26.

On Tuesday Hunter’s attorney informed the court that he would enter a “not guilty” plea to charges of illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs.

Hunter, 53, was charged last week with three counts related to making false statements when claiming on forms required for a 2018 gun purchase that he was not illegally using drugs at the time.

He possessed the Colt revolver for 11 days before getting rid of it.

In June, a deal with federal prosecutor David Weiss – which would have erased the gun charges while Hunter pleaded guilty to two tax charges and avoided prison – fell apart.

That led Weiss to filing three felony gun possession charges against him.

If convicted, Hunter could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice such charges, if not accompanied by other charges, are seldom punished by any jail time.

Weiss, who was elevated to special counsel for the Hunter probe after the plea deal fell through, in the meantime has signalied that he is still investigating Hunter on possible tax charges. – AFP, September 21, 2023.