A US federal judge on Wednesday set June 3 as the tentative date for the start of the trial of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter on charges of illegal gun possession.

District Judge Maryellen Noreika, in a court filing, set aside the weeks of June 3 and June 10 for a jury trial in Wilmington, Delaware, for the 54-year-old Hunter Biden.

In October, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the gun charges.

He also faces tax evasion charges in California. The judge in that case has said he is aiming for a trial to begin on June 20.

Hunter Biden faces three felony charges stemming from his purchase of a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 when, by his own admission, he was heavily addicted to drugs.

He is charged with two counts of making false statements for claiming on forms required for the gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.

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He faces a third charge, based on the same statements, that he illegally possessed the gun - which he had for only 11 days in October 2018.

If convicted, Hunter Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice such offences, if not accompanied by other charges, are seldom punished by jail time.

His legal troubles and controversies - which include accusations from Republican politicians that he engaged in corrupt business practices in China and Ukraine - are a constant drag on his father’s political standing as he seeks a second term in the White House.

Republicans have opened an impeachment inquiry in Congress into what they claim is a Biden family criminal conspiracy but have provided no evidence that the president did anything wrong.

Hunter Biden has not been charged with any crimes related to his foreign business dealings, despite the Republican allegations.

Hunter Biden is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction. AFP