What Hunter Biden’s conviction means for President Joe Biden

Hunter Biden spiralled into drug use around the time that his brother, Beau, died from brain cancer. His battles with addiction and the toll it exacted on his family relationships were presented in painful detail during the trial through excerpts from Hunter’s memoir, his text messages and emails, photographs and testimony from those close to him.

All the while, friends and members of Hunter Biden’s family – including First Lady Jill Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden – sat behind him, watched and sometimes hugged him or held his hand during breaks in the trial. His half-sister Ashley cried during the defence attorney’s closing arguments.

“Our family has been through a lot together,” Joe Biden’s earlier statement concluded, “and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”

The prosecuting attorney during his closing argument said the evidence presented was ugly and personal. He also said that it was overwhelming and it was necessary to show that when Hunter Biden filled out the federal background check application for a handgun, he knowingly lied when he certified that he was not using drugs.

In the end, a unanimous jury agreed. This guilty verdict means the president’s son – the only surviving child from his first wife, who was killed along with his infant daughter in a car accident half a century ago – may face years in prison.