US special counsel to indict Hunter Biden by month's end

WASHINGTON

Special counsel David Weiss expects to indict US President Joe Biden's son on gun charges by the end of the month, according to a court filing made Wednesday.

The development comes after Hunter Biden struck a plea deal with prosecutors in June that would have seen him avoid jail time and prosecution by pleading guilty to two federal tax charges and another count of illegal possession of a firearm by a drug user. Biden would have had to have met additional conditions as part of the agreement.

The tax charges are misdemeanors and stem from a failure to pay $100,000 in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018.

US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika put the deal on pause in July, questioning part of the plea deal that would have kept Biden out of jail on gun charges. Negotiations between prosecutors and Biden's legal team aimed at revising the deal have since hit an impasse.

"The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest. The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date," prosecutors wrote in Wednesday's filing.

Biden's team was expected to issue its filing by the end of the day Wednesday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss to become a special counsel on Aug. 11, giving his office more leeway to carry out the investigation into the president's son. Weiss, who serves as the US attorney in Delaware, was already leading the probe.

Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges after the plea deal was detailed.