Marianna Brady
In Washington DC

Today's indictment was expected - but it's still notable. It's the first time the child of a sitting president has been criminally prosecuted.

And as Gary O'Donogue has just pointed out, the president is facing a tight presidential race next year and his son being on trial muddies the water.

So what happens next?

Hunter Biden will be called to face a judge in court. We don't know when that will be yet, but we'll bring you the details on the website when we have it.

As far as Joe Biden is concerned, the House of Representatives investigation into whether to impeach him continues - and we have no idea how long that might take.

In the meantime, read more:

The indictment: The legal troubles of President Biden's son explained

Profile:The struggles and scandals of Hunter Biden

The election race: What we know about the Joe Biden impeachment inquiry

Thanks for joining us, and have a good evening.

Gary O'Donoghue
Washington Correspondent

Politically speaking, there are currently two Americas.

One is currently outraged and horrified that the former President, Donald Trump, is facing 91 federal and state criminal charges in what they see as a deep state conspiracy orchestrated in part by Joe Biden's justice department.

The other believes that very same justice department has spent five years unfairly pursuing Hunter Biden over his tax affairs and behaviour while a self-declared and repentant drug addict.

In other words, both Americas believe the department has been taken captive by the other side and is hopelessly politicised.

Hunter Biden's legal woes will of course be a blow in a personal sense to his father and his family. But the ramifications go much further than that.

Republicans have for some time known that the President's son is a vulnerability that has the power not just to significantly rile up Joe Biden, but also to help distract from their own problems.

Add to that the fact that most Democrats, when asked, are far from happy that Joe Biden is planning to stand again for the White House, and Hunter seems like just another reason for some continuing to press for the 80-year-old president to step aside for the next generation.

All this means that the outcome of Hunter Biden's case will play a significant part in what is shaping up to be a roller-coaster of an election race.

Donald Trump has used Hunter Biden's legal troubles to launch a fresh attack on President Joe Biden.

Writing on his very own Truth Social platform, he says today's charges represent "the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate crooked Joe Biden".

As we've been reporting, members of Trump's Republican Party in Congress earlier this week announced the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into the president - something the White House rubbished as being an "inquiry based on lies".

Image source, Reuters

President Joe Biden has just been giving a speech about economics at a college in Largo, Maryland.

He didn't stop to take questions before leaving the stage, however.

And unsurprisingly, he didn't choose to bring up his son's indictment in the address itself.

Someone trying to buy a firearm in the US - as Hunter Biden did - is subject to background checks that have been required by law for the last 25 years.

They're asked to fill out forms, and then the seller (who must be licensed) contacts the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (Nics).

Nics staff then work to verify that the buyer does not have a criminal record or isn't otherwise ineligible to purchase or own a firearm.

According to the website of the FBI, external, which launched the system, 1.5 million denials have been made since the launch in 1998.

Drug users are disqualified from gun ownership. Hunter Biden is accused of making a "false and fictitious statement" that he was not a drug-user, when submitting his own paperwork.

Brandon Livesay
Live reporter

Prof Zelin has also been talking about the possibility of Hunter Biden going to prison.

“In my opinion, Hunter Biden’s not going to jail. This case is going to end up right where it’s supposed to be, with a plea agreement.”

“It’s a nonsense case. Nobody got hurt, it’s a victimless crime, he’s never been in trouble before. Is this really how we want to waste judicial resources?”

He says Biden’s alleged crimes were “purely driven by drug addiction” and the law distinguishes between those who know what they are doing, and those who make decisions under the influence of drugs.

Prof Zelin also mentions the second amendment, which dictates the right of the American people to keep and bear arms.

“The second amendment says nothing about - only people who aren’t drug addicts are to not have a gun license.”

He says that particular notion could be constitutionally challenged.

Brandon Livesay
Live reporter

Randy Zelin, professor of law at Cornell Law School, says the indictments have been stirred up by politics.

“Somebody woke up one day and said, boy I have a new toy and that is called the federal criminal justice system. I’m going to use the criminal system to punish people who don’t agree with my politics.”

He said it was a “ping pong game, this tennis match with people’s lives”.

Prof Zelin also questioned how the initial Hunter Biden plea agreement fell apart.

“I think somewhere the district judge in this case was moved, was swayed by something. I don’t know if it was political pressure, if the public swayed something.”

“I don’t know that the district judge had the right to reject the plea agreement.”

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

Earlier this week, House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced he will open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden - something the White House said was "extreme politics at its worst.".

Republicans have long scrutinised Joe Biden's son for his business dealings abroad, and those who support impeachment accuse the Biden family of enriching themselves from foreign sources.

Conservatives in Congress have spent several months attempting to link Hunter Biden's actions to his father, but have so far not revealed any concrete evidence that implicates the president in any wrongdoing.

Still, right-wing Republicans in Congress have increasingly agitated for impeaching Biden.

But there is dissent among Republicans, with some rank-and-file lawmakers questioning whether they have sufficient evidence to do so.

We've been picking up a few people's thoughts on the charges:

Republican and House Oversight Committee chairman, James Comer, said in a statement, external: “Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally".

Rep Andy Biggs wrote on X, external, formerly Twitter: "The Hunter Biden indictment on federal gun charges is a move to make you think that the DOJ is fair. Don’t fall for it. They’re trying to protect him from way more serious charges coming his way!"

Congressman Matt Gaetz told CNN: “I’ll be honest, getting Hunter on the gun charge is like getting Jeffery Dahmer (the American serial killer) on littering".

Sean Dilley and Rebecca Hartmann
Reporting from Washington

These charges represent the start of two distinct and serious trials for the Biden family.

Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years behind bars for allegedly possessing a handgun the prosecution say his drug use barred him from owning.

It’s unlikely that anyone convicted in these circumstances would be punished so severely.

But his father - who is not implicated or involved in his son’s criminal case - will, rightly or wrongly, be judged in the court of public opinion as he bids for a second term in office.

Publicly, the White House has had nothing to say about the indictment – but Joe and Jill have consistently said they love their son and they’ll continue to support him.

The BBC's US partner network CBS has just received a statement from Hunter Biden's attorney. Here it is, in full:

Although the indictment itself is fresh, it was known in advance that charges would be brought against Hunter Biden.

White House officials wouldn't answer reporters' questions about it yesterday.

CNN reports that a spokesperson referred queries to the Department of Justice and to Hunter Biden’s personal representatives, pointing out that this was an "independent investigation.”

Under a plea deal negotiated over several weeks, Biden was to be charged with two misdemeanour counts for failing to pay his taxes on time in 2017 and 2018.

He was also to admit that he had illegally possessed a gun while being a drug user, and agree to drug treatment and monitoring in lieu of a more serious felony charge and possible jail time.

But during the three-hour hearing in July, US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika said she could not "rubber stamp the agreement".

She said the agreement contained "non-standard terms" and its proposed resolution for the gun possession offence was "unusual".

She questioned whether the deal would also provide Hunter Biden with immunity from crimes he could be found liable for in the future.

In this short 90 second video explainer, the BBC's Anthony Zurcher examines why Hunter Biden - the US president's son - is looming large over the campaign trail and beyond.

Hunter Biden's personal struggles - from alcohol and drug abuse, to relationship strife - have spilled over into full public view in recent years. We have a long article detailing them here.

Here's a condensed version:

• He was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1970 to Joe Biden and his first wife Neilia
• When he was two - less than six weeks after his father's election to the US Senate - his mother and baby sister were killed in a car accident
• Hunter later attended Georgetown University and Yale Law School, graduating in 1996
• In 2013, he signed up for the US Navy Reserves but was discharged on his first day after testing positive for cocaine use. Later went on to speak about his addiction struggles
• He married his first wife, lawyer Kathleen Buhle, in 1993. They have three children, but split in 2017
• He worked at MBNA America, a bank holding company headquartered in Delaware and later acquired by Bank of America
• He has faced scrutiny and attacks from Republican politicians over certain controversial business dealings. These include dealings in Ukraine, at a time when his father what the point-person for American-Ukrainian government relations

The US president's son is looking at three charges. They are:

• Making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm
• Making a false statement related to information required to be kept by Federal Firearms Licensed Dealer
• Possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance

Marianna Brady
In Washington DC

You’re joining us after President Biden's son Hunter was criminally charged with three counts of lying when buying a firearm.

The development comes after efforts to reach a plea deal failed back in July.

It’s the first time the child of a sitting president has been criminally prosecuted.

This all adds up to a rough week for President Biden, who learned on Tuesday that rival Republican lawmakers in Congress are launching an effort to impeach him.

They cited a “culture of corruption” in the Biden family and are focusing on his son’s business dealings and what the president knew about them.

This criminal charge is not related to those allegations, but it could still be damaging for a man who is running for his second term in office in 2024.

We’ve got journalists in Washington DC and in London following the latest developments - stay with us.