Hunter Biden jurors say politics did not sway verdict

Jurors who convicted Hunter Biden of gun crimes on Tuesday have said they did not think about his father or politics when reaching their decision.

"I was never thinking of President Joe Biden," one juror told the BBC shortly after the verdict, adding that their 11 fellow jurors considered it “important” to separate the facts of the case from the family.

"Out of all the jurors, nobody mentioned anything about political motivations,” the male juror, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “Somehow, you block that out of your mind."

The verdict has prompted much political reaction, with congressional Republicans who investigated Hunter Biden for years welcoming the decision. Democrats have insisted it will not affect the president’s re-election campaign.

In a brief interview, the juror told the BBC he had not considered whether it would impact November’s election.

Two other jurors, meanwhile, told CNN that they did not feel any pressure during deliberations, despite the high-profile nature of the trial, during an election year.

One of those jurors told CNN she anticipated the panel would be "at each other's throats because [Biden's] father is the president and because of the political climate", but after deliberations started, she "didn't feel pressure".

Jurors who spoke to other news outlets repeatedly said politics did not sway their decision, but some did have qualms about the case.

One juror told CNN the case "seemed like a waste of taxpayer dollars", while another juror said the process was “a little bit frustrating because it felt like we couldn’t get the full story".

Despite those frustrations, the jury was able to reach a verdict within just three hours of the week-long trial.

The juror who spoke to the BBC left the case with some remorse, noting that Mr Biden is not just the US president but also a dad and "someone just convicted [his son] in federal court".

Biden became the first son of a sitting US president to be criminally convicted on Tuesday when the jury found him guilty of lying about his drug use on a federal form when purchasing a handgun in 2018.

Before the case went to trial, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming he did not lie on the form because he was in recovery from drug addition at the time.

Biden was stoic during the verdict reading. He hugged family members and his legal team after he learned his fate. He will be sentenced at some point in the next 120 days, but the judge overseeing the case did not set a date.