Washington, 14 September 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The son of US President Joe Biden has been indicted on three charges over a weapons violation.

Hunter Biden, 53, is accused of concealing his drug use during a gun purchase in 2018.

A planned plea deal with the Delaware Attorney General's Office on the charges had previously fallen through.

Former US president Donald Trump, expected to be Joe Biden's rival again in next year's presidential election, is facing four separate criminal trials at present.

His son Donald Trump Junior posted on X: "Now that Hunter Biden has been indicted how many mins till Biden's corrupt DOJ (Department of Justice) drops another Trump indictment to change the narrative?

"It's nice to see something happen, though this is likely the excuse DOJ will use to pretend they're fair when they give him slap on the wrist!"

According to court documents, the current president's son was indicted on three counts: making a false statement at the time of purchase, making false statements to the dealer and possession of a weapon despite unlawful drug use.

The maximum sentence for a conviction is 10 years in prison. But the Delaware Attorney General's Office had previously stated that sentences far below the possible maximum are often handed out for similar offences.

Hunter Biden had himself made his long-standing drug addiction public in a book in 2021. He has been in the sights of the US judiciary for some time and has been under investigation for years, in part for tax offences.

In June, the Delaware prosecutor's office finally published formal charges against the president's son. The judiciary also accused the 53-year-old of failing to pay income tax due in 2017 and 2018 on time.

At the time, the prosecution initially announced that a plea deal had been reached with Hunter Biden to avoid a trial in both cases, but that fell through.

In mid-August, US Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special investigator in the case - David Weiss, who had already been investigating, was thus given additional powers and pushed ahead with the investigation against Hunter Biden.

The younger Biden's legal troubles could have an impact on his father's 2024 re-election campaign.

Although the investigation against his son is not about the president, Republicans repeatedly portray the Bidens as a crime family, which both the president and the Democratic Party vehemently reject.

On Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, opened an impeachment inquiry against Biden - seen as a move to placate the hard-right in his party.

McCarthy did not ask for a House vote on the impeachment and several observers said he did not have the votes to push the measure through.

Photo: EPA