The three-count indictment showing Hunter Biden would face federal firearms charges was filed in a federal court in Delaware on Thursday. 

The indictment accuses Hunter Biden of making two false statements while filling out papers to purchase a gun in 2018. 

He was charged with a third count for possessing the gun as a drug user.

The Hunter Biden gun charges

Biden claimed he wasn't addicted to or using illegal drugs at the time of checking boxes on a form required for every gun purchase while buying a firearm in October 2018.

The purchase was during a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction to crack cocaine, according to the indictment.

The indictment, which is four pages long, said that Hunter Biden knew the statement he was making while buying the gun was "false and fictitious."

How significant is the Hunter Biden indictment?

The charges follow the collapse of a plea deal in July that had been negotiated between Hunter Biden's lgeal team and US Attorney and special counsel David Weiss.

Had the plea deal been finalized, Hunter Biden would have avoided jail time for misdemeanor tax crimes and probably a pretrial sentence demanding Biden attend a so-called diversion program, a means for first-time offenders in the US to avoid a criminal record usually by attending rehabilitation or awareness courses or both. 

The indictment sets the stage for a possible criminal trial as the 2024 presidential election looms.

Hunter Biden's legal woes and the 2024 US election

Hunter Biden has long been dogged by legal woes, but the charges come at a time when congressional Republicans are pursuing an impeachment inquiry against his father, President Joe Biden.

Republicans have requested to open a formal probe into Biden and his family’s foreign business dealings and the prosecution of Hunter Biden.

This comes amid the series of investigations, some political and others entirely in the criminal justice system, facing former President Donald Trump, deemed by many the frontrunner to challenge Biden as Republican nominee.

President Biden is seeking reelection for president in 2024. His campaign has noted the impeachment inquiry in fundraising campaigning, saying it was "beyond ridiculous."

Hunter Biden has been under investigation for his business dealings. Weiss has indicated that charges of failure to pay taxes on time could be filed in Washington or California, where Biden lives.

Reactions to the Hunter Biden indictment

Republican James Comer, who will lead the impeachment inquiry, welcomed the indictment. 

"Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally," Comer said.

Reacting on his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump said the gun charge "is the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden."

Leading Democrat and advisor to the president, Keisha Lance Bottoms, questioned the charges against Biden, saying it was the first time in nearly three decades that she had seen something like this.

"Can anyone tell me how many people have been federally indicted for purchasing a gun while dealing with substance abuse issues?" Bottoms said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I don't know the answer, but in my over 29 years as an attorney, I have never heard of it." 

kb,rm/msh (Reuters, AP, AFP)