Gun trial begins June 5, 2024 with charges of lying to gun dealer and illegally possessing firearm
Hunter Biden, sitting president's son, facing gun and tax trials in Delaware
Judge Maryellen Noreika blocks defense expert witness due to inadequate disclosure and excludes altered federal firearms form filled out by Hunter Biden
President Joe Biden concerned about trials' impact on son's well-being and potential distractions during presidential campaign
Tax trial in September 2024 for failing to pay taxes on income from business dealings between 2013-2017
In a historic turn of events, President Joe Biden's son Hunter is set to face trials for gun and tax-related charges in Delaware. The trials, which will begin on separate occasions, mark the first time in American history that the child of a sitting president will go on trial. The two federal judges presiding over the cases, Maryellen Noreika and Mark Scarsi, were both appointed by former President Donald Trump.
In preparation for Hunter Biden's gun trial beginning on June 5, 2024, Judge Maryellen Noreika made two significant rulings on June 3. She blocked one of the defense's expert witnesses from testifying due to inadequate disclosure and excluded a key piece of evidence that was an altered version of the federal firearms form filled out by Hunter Biden in 2018.
Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies stemming from his 2018 gun purchase while struggling with crack addiction. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants, and illegally having the gun for 11 days. The trial is expected to explore the depths of Biden's drug use and its impact on his decision-making during that time.
The tax trial, which will begin in September 2024, involves allegations that Hunter Biden failed to pay taxes on income earned from various business dealings between 2013 and 2017. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to five years in prison for each count.
The trials come at a time when President Joe Biden is concerned about the toll they may take on his son's well-being and sobriety, as well as potential distractions during the presidential campaign.
Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase while he was struggling with crack addiction.
He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants, and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
President Biden is concerned about the toll the trial may take on his son's well-being and sobriety, as well as potential distractions during the presidential campaign.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(80%)
The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy when it mentions that a jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felonies and that the two criminal cases are unrelated but their proximity underscores how the criminal courtroom has taken center stage during the 2024 campaign. This is an attempt to use Trump's conviction as evidence or authority to support the significance of Hunter Biden's trial.
The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the criminal courtroom has taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.
Bias
(95%)
The article mentions the proximity of Hunter Biden's trial to the 2024 election and Donald Trump's recent conviction, implying a connection between the two events. It also mentions Republicans decrying special treatment for Biden's son and painting his family as corrupt without evidence. These statements demonstrate political bias.
but their proximity underscores how the criminal courtroom has taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.
Republicans have seized on without evidence to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt.
Judge Maryellen Noreika blocked one of Hunter Biden’s expert witnesses, Dr. Elie Aoun, from testifying due to inadequate disclosure.
Judge Noreika excluded a key piece of evidence, an altered version of the federal firearms form filled out by Hunter Biden in 2018 that was doctored by gun store employees in 2021.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(30%)
The article by Marshall Cohen contains selective reporting and emotional manipulation. The author only reports details that support the prosecution's position in the Hunter Biden gun trial, while omitting important context about the defense's expert witness and evidence. Additionally, the author uses emotionally charged language to describe Hunter Biden's legal situation, implying that he is guilty before a fair trial has even begun.
The rulings from Judge Maryellen Noreika resolved some of the sticking points that were still simmering before the trial begins Monday.
But Noreika ruled the altered version of the form was Irrelevant and inadmissible,
Only the original form known as ATF Form 4473 will be shown to the jury.
These decisions could make a tough case for Hunter Biden even more challenging to win.
Fallacies
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Bias
(95%)
The author uses language that depicts the defense team's actions as 'conspiratorial theories' and 'unsupported rhetoric'. This is an example of bias as it implies that the defense team is making baseless claims without providing evidence to support them.
> any probative value it arguably has is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, and misleading the jury, <
> But Noreika ruled the altered version of the form was irrelative and inadmissible, <
> Hunter Biden’s team for pushing conspiratorial theories and unsupported rhetoric about the motivations of the Wilmington gun store employees. <
> The judge also blocked Hunter Biden’s lawyers from using what they thought was a key piece of exculpatory evidence: an altered version of the federal firearms form he filled out when he bought the gun in 2018 that was tweaked in 2021 by the gun store employees. <
Mexico faces challenges of drug violence and economic recovery under new president.
One person died, 24 were hurt in a mass shooting in Akron, Ohio.
Accuracy
Hunter Biden's gun trial is the first in US history for a sitting president’s child.
,
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(90%)
The article contains a few informal fallacies and appeals to authority. It states that Hunter Biden's trial is the first in U.S. history for the child of a sitting president without providing evidence for this claim, which could be seen as an appeal to authority (Source: 'The case involves...'). The article also claims that Mexico has elected its first female president without providing any context on why this is significant, which could be seen as an informal fallacy of exaggeration (Source: 'Mexico elects...'). Additionally, the article quotes a prediction from a forecast without providing counter-arguments or alternative viewpoints, which could be seen as an appeal to authority (Source: 'But forecasters say they have new tools...').
Hunter Biden trial begins in Delaware Days after former President Donald Trump’s historic conviction, a federal gun trial against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter begins on Monday in Wilmington, Delaware, and is expected to explore the depths of Biden’s drug use. The case involves a bizarre series of events in which Biden purchased a gun in the state that authorities recovered after it was thrown into a trash can outside a grocery store weeks later.
Mexico elects its first female president Claudia Sheinbaum will become Mexico’s first female president. Besides the mantle of being the first woman to hold her position, the winner of Sunday’s election faces an arduous task: leading a country of almost 130 million inhabitants besieged by a spiral of drug violence and an economy that is slowing after its post-pandemic recovery.
But forecasters say they have new tools to better predict a trickier kind of storm, that quickly builds ferocious wind speeds, becoming powerhouses almost overnight.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the federal charges in Delaware.
He is charged with two counts of making false statements and one count of illegal gun possession.
The charges all relate to his purchase of a revolver at a Delaware gun store in October 2018, which he kept for about 11 days.
Prosecutors allege that he falsely claimed on a federally-mandated form that he was ‘not an unlawful user of and addicted to any stimulant narcotic drug’ when he purchased the weapon.
The gun was discarded and discovered at a grocery store in Greenville, Delaware, prompting an investigation that ultimately led investigators back to the forms.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(30%)
The article contains selective reporting as it only reports details that support the author's position and implies facts without linking to peer-reviewed studies. The author states 'Prosecutors will also be able to point to Mr Biden’s own 2021 memoir, in which he detailed his experiences as a drug user who was ’up twenty-four hours a day, smoking every 15 minutes, seven days a week’.' This is an example of selective reporting as it only quotes the parts of the memoir that support the author's position and implies that Mr. Biden's addiction was ongoing at the time of gun purchase without providing any evidence or linking to peer-reviewed studies. The article also states 'Mr Biden has himself been quiet about the trial, legal documents filed by his lawyers suggest that they will focus on how much Mr Biden was aware of his addiction at the end of the purchase.' This is an example of editorializing as it is the author's opinion that Mr. Biden's lawyers will focus on this issue.
Prosecutors will also be able to point to Mr Biden’s own 2021 memoir, in which he detailed his experiences as a drug user who was ’up twenty-four hours a day, smoking every 15 minutes, seven days a week’.
Mr Biden has himself been quiet about the trial, legal documents filed by his lawyers suggest that they will focus on how much Mr Biden was aware of his addiction at the end of the purchase.
Fallacies
(85%)
The author makes an appeal to authority by citing the judge's ruling and the prosecutor's argument in the case. The author also uses inflammatory rhetoric by describing Hunter Biden's addiction as 'full blown' and 'throes of'. However, these fallacies do not significantly impact the overall content of the article.
]The judge agreed with prosecutors’ argument that they need only prove that ‘unlawful use (had) occurred recently enough to indicate that the individual (was) actively engaged in such conduct’.[
In one such text message cited in court documents, Mr Biden refers to himself as a ‘liar and a thief and a blame and a user and I’m delusional and an addict unlike beyond and above all other addicts that you know’.
Judges Maryellen Noreika and Mark Scarsi, who will preside over Hunter Biden’s gun and tax trials respectively, are both former Trump appointees.
Noreika sentenced a man to a year in prison for lying on government forms about his address when buying guns, despite prosecutors recommending six months.
Scarsi has sentenced people to years in prison for violating tax laws and ordered one defendant to pay restitution, indicating he had not paid his taxes at the time of sentencing.
Accuracy
Judges Maryellen Noreika and Mark Scarsi are both former Trump appointees.
Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase while he was struggling with crack addiction.
Both judges have less than 10 years of judicial experience between them and have each presided over just a handful of criminal trials.
Deception
(70%)
The article contains selective reporting and emotional manipulation. The author focuses on the fact that both judges were appointed by Trump and have a background in patent law, implying that this is significant and relevant to the trials at hand. However, this information does not directly impact the outcome of the trials or Hunter Biden's guilt or innocence. The author also uses emotional language such as 'most politically charged case of their career' and 'odd coincidence', which attempts to manipulate readers' emotions and create a sense of drama around the trials. Additionally, while not explicitly stated, the article implies that the judges being former patent lawyers makes them less qualified to preside over criminal trials involving Hunter Biden.
For the first time in American history, the son of a sitting president is set to go on trial — twice — as Hunter Biden faces gun charges next week and tax charges in September.
Soon, however, both Noreika and Scarsi will each be supervising the most politically charged case of their career.
The fact that Biden’s judges are both former patent lawyers isn’t a coincidence.
