Prosecutors who filed firearms charges against Hunter Biden moved Wednesday to formally dismiss a gun count against President Joe Biden’s son.
The charge had been part of a collapsed “sweetheart” plea deal.
The prosecutors moved to remove a charge alleging Hunter broke a law against drug users having guns when he bought a gun in 2018, during a period he admits he was addicted and regularly using drugs. The dropped charge is largely a procedural move.
No new tax counts have yet been filed by special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the case.
Hunter Biden had been expected to avoid prosecution on the gun charge and plead guilty to misdemeanor tax counts in an agreement with prosecutors. Republicans blasted the plea bargain as a “sweetheart” deal based on Hunter’s political connections.
The deal collapsed after a judge raised questions about it in a July hearing and the new indictment was filed weeks later.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday as the case moves toward a potential trial with the 2024 election looming.
Hunter Biden has acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period in 2018, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law. Experts say cases like this, against drug users accused of having guns, are rare, and an appeals court has found the underlying statute violates the Second Amendment under new Supreme Court standards.
But given the high-profile nature of the case, some critics of the Biden family expressed outrage over the move.
The president’s son is still facing a three-count indictment focused on the same purchase that includes both gun possession and false statement charges.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article