Jill Biden attends first day of Hunter Biden’s trial in Delaware

First lady Jill Biden arrived Monday morning at a Delaware courthouse where her son, Hunter Biden, is set to go on trial on federal gun charges.

President Biden and the first lady spent Sunday night in Wilmington, where Hunter Biden’s trial is taking place. The Bidens have a residence in Wilmington and frequently travel there on the weekends. Hunter Biden was spotted at the White House last Friday and traveled with the family to Delaware ahead of his trial.

The president was not expected to attend, as he and the White House have tried to maintain a distance from the legal proceedings involving his son. But the president has previously said he’s proud of Hunter for dealing with his drug addiction issues and said Hunter did nothing wrong.

Monday is also Jill Biden’s 73rd birthday.

In addition to the first lady, Hunter’s sister, Ashley Biden, was spotted entering the courthouse in Wilmington.

Hunter Biden, 54, is facing charges for lying on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018. He wrote on the form that he was not a drug user, despite being addicted to cocaine at the time.

He has been open about his addiction, detailing his struggles in his 2021 memoir.

Republicans have repeatedly used Hunter Biden as a target for political attacks, attempting to tie his business dealings directly to President Biden to paint the entire family as corrupt. But those efforts have failed to turn up substantive evidence of wrongdoing, derailing an impeachment inquiry in the House over the past year.

The Biden trial is set to begin just days after a jury in New York City found former President Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal alleged affairs during his 2016 campaign.

Democrats have pointed to the prosecution of Hunter Biden to rebut claims from Trump and his allies that the Justice Department is being weaponized against Republicans.