Closing summary
Hunter Biden, the eldest living son of Joe Biden, was found guilty on Tuesday on all three felony counts he faced relating to buying a handgun while being a user of crack cocaine.
The jury reached its verdict after about three hours of deliberation over two days. It followed a weeklong trial in the Biden family’s home town of Wilmington, Delaware, that featured sometimes excruciating testimony about his addiction habit, from some of his closest relatives. Hunter Biden chose not to take the witness stand in his own defense. Also:
Republicans responded to Hunter Biden’s conviction by doubling down on conspiracy theories that many senior party figures have been using to try and damage his president father.
Joe Biden did not address the conviction in his son’s trial in his first public remarks after the jury reached its verdict as he touted his administration’s efforts to curb gun violence at an Everytown for Gun Safety event in Washington DC.
Samuel Alito, the supreme justice at the center of a flag controversy that has called his impartiality into question, said one side of the US’s bitter left v right ideological conflicts has to prevail, in secretly recorded remarks that are likely to exacerbate concerns about judicial neutrality. His wife, Martha-Ann Alito, was also recorded making critical comments about the gay pride flag.
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who brought the hush-money case against Donald Trump, agreed to testify before Congress on 12 July, a day after the former president’s sentencing in New York.
JD Vance, the Republican senator for Ohio vying to be Donald Trump’s running mate, inadvertently revealed that as part of his vetting for the role, he was asked questions that might disqualify Trump himself.
Updated
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg to testify to Congress after Trump's sentencing
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, has agreed to testify before Congress a day after Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush-money trial.
Bragg, who brought the hush-money case against the former president, will appear on 12 July before the GOP-led House select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government along with prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, a spokesperson for Bragg’s office said.
“The Manhattan D.A.’s Office is proud to play a crucial role in upholding and enforcing the rule of law for the people of New York,” the spokesperson said.
It undermines the rule of law to spread dangerous misinformation, baseless claims, and conspiracy theories following the jury’s return of a full-count felony conviction in People v. Trump. Nonetheless, we respect our government institutions and plan to appear voluntarily before the subcommittee after sentencing.
The Republican-controlled hearing, which will come a day after Trump’s sentencing hearing in New York, marks the latest effort by Trump’s closest congressional allies to discredit his 34-count conviction by waging war on the justice system.
House judiciary committee chair Jim Jordan has accused both Bragg and Colangelo of conducting a “political prosecution” in the case against the former president.
