Hunter Biden latest: Trump campaign reacts to guilty verdict - as Joe Biden releases statement (2024)

That brings an end to our coverage of the conviction of Hunter Biden on three felony charges for this evening.

Here's a roundup of the main points you need to know:

• Joe Biden's son, 54 was found guilty by a 12-member Delaware jury of illegally buying a gun after hiding his drug use;
• He was convicted of three firearm charges in the first criminal prosecution of a sitting US president's offspring. The judge said he would be sentenced at a later date;
• In a statement following the verdicts, President Biden said he accepted the outcome of the case, as his son considers making an appeal;
• Hunter Biden said he was "disappointed" by the verdict but "grateful" for the support of family and friends, while his lawyers said they would "continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available";
• The US president hugged his son after travelling to Delaware to see him, shortly after delivering remarks at a major gun safety conference.

Reporters covering Hunter Biden's gun trial in Delaware used signs and binoculars to relay news of the guilty verdict from the courtroom, where no electronics were allowed, to their team outside.

A team of journalists at our US partner NBC News said they made signs indicating the verdict for each of the three counts.

They showed them through a window three floors up at the courthouse in Wilmington to relay the result in rapid time.

Joe Biden has landed in Delaware after travelling from Washington by helicopter to meet his son following his conviction.

The president landed aboard Marine One a short time ago, where Hunter Biden was waiting to greet him with his family.

Mr Biden headed to the state's main city of Wilmington shortly after delivering remarks at a major anti-gun violence event in the US capital.

The unplanned visit to Delaware will be short, as he will depart for Italy tomorrow morning to attend the G7 summit.

Sources in the defence room after the verdict have told our US partner NBC News that Hunter Biden thanked each person by name in what one called "an incredible human moment".

"It was an extraordinary moment that everyone around him in those minutes after the verdict will always remember," the source said.

Joe Biden's son said he was grateful for and proud of everyone involved - and heaped praise on his legal team.

A particularly emotional moment reportedly came as Hunter Biden talked about his mother and father and wife Melissa.

One source said the prosecution against him is a "really stark example of how antiquated the justice system is" with regard to how laws are enforced around drugs and alcohol.

Unlike in other countries, jurors in the US arefree to discuss the case and their deliberations with others - including the media - after a verdict has been reached.

It explains why we've heard one of the jurors, identified only as juror number 10, be so candid about their thoughts after the trial.

Earlier, they said they didn't believe Hunter Biden should go to jail and that politics did not come into play during deliberations (see 19.20 post).

"In America, you do get to hear from jurors if they choose after a case to talk about it," says our US correspondent Mark Stone.

He adds it is "pretty unusual" beyond the US.

Donald Trump's argument about the "weaponisation" of the justice system just ran smack into the Delaware jury's conviction of Joe Biden's son Hunter, reports our US partner network NBC News.

The result, according to some Republicans, is a major blow to one of Trump's favourite talking points - and a boost to Mr Biden's case that he respects the rule of law.

"Hunter Biden's conviction definitely weakens the argument," said Dan Eberhart, a major Republican donor who backs Trump and thinks he should be focused on the economy rather than court cases. "To me, the justice system is working."

Republican members of the US House of Representatives have been having their say this afternoon following the conviction of Hunter Biden on gun charges.

Georgia representative Rich McCormick said he was interested to see when the sentencing would be set for, "to see if they're going to do it before after it impacts Joe Biden if he gives him a pardon".

Meanwhile, House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik has accused the Department of Justice, which pursued the case against Hunter Biden, of being "corrupt".

"Let's remember this was Joe Biden's corrupt DOJ that tried to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal with outside immunity unrelated to this case, she said. "It was the judge who stepped in to expose that."

Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa, said she was reassured "to see the criminal justice system work".

"For those of us who saw the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop of stories related to Hunter Biden prior to the election in 2020. We think that this was a long day in coming," she said.

Joe Biden goes on to explain changes that have been brought in to address gun safety in the US.

He says the law has changed on background checks for anyone under 21 wanting to purchase a firearm, and says he wants there to be universal background checks.

Mr Biden adds that 20,000 unlicensed firearm dealers now have to be licensed to run background checks.

The president says he has witnessed "too many mass shootings" in his country, and states his aim to "ban assault weapons".

He closes without any mention of his son, and will now travel to Wilmington in Delaware to be with his family.

The US president does not address his son's conviction on federal gun charges as he takes to the stage to address the conference hosted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund.

The conference brings together volunteers and survivors of gun violence.

Joe Biden says victims of gun violence will not be forgotten and "will not die in vain".

He says he understands the tragedy of losing loved ones, having lost his first wife and baby daughter in a car crash in 1972 and his elder son Beau to cancer in 2015.

"Never give up hope," he says.

Mr Biden tells the audience that he knows how it feels to receive tragic news, saying: "That black hole in your chest, you feel like you're being sucked into it."

Joe Biden is making his remarks at a gun safety event in Washington, DC.

We'll bring live updates as they happen.