Hunter Biden said he plans to plead not guilty to federal gun charges, according to a Tuesday court filing related to the indictment against President Joe Bidens son.

In a letter to Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke, attorney Abbe Lowell wrote that the younger Biden is requesting that his initial court appearance be held over video instead of in person, but that regardless, he plans to plead not guilty to the three felony gun charges he was indicted on last week.

There is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference, the attorney wrote. In short, Mr. Biden is satisfied that his constitutional rights will be met by conducting his initial appearance by video conference.

Mr. Biden is not seeking any special treatment in making this request. He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required.

The Sept. 14 charges against Hunter Biden stem from an investigation by special counsel David Weiss , who was appointed last month by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe potential wrongdoing by the presidents 53-year-old son.

All three gun charges surround a Colt Cobra revolver that Hunter Biden bought in 2018. Two of the charges accuse him of falsely claiming on a federal form that he was not using illegal narcotics at the time of the purchase. The third charge accuses him of possessing the firearm while using illegal narcotics.

The presidents son has previously said that he was smoking crack every 15 minutes around the time he purchased the revolver, attributing his addiction to the trauma of surviving the car crash that killed his mother and baby sister about 50 years ago. He has also said that he did not become sober until meeting his current wife in 2019.

The gun possession charge and two tax misdemeanors were initially part of a plea deal from July that quickly fell apart after the federal judge overseeing the case probed the details of the agreement. Under the deal, Hunter Biden would have pleaded guilty to the tax charges and entered an alcohol and drug diversion program instead of pleading guilty to the gun possession.

Since that [July] proceeding, Mr. Biden has scrupulously complied with his conditions since returning home to California and it is his expectation that those conditions will remain in place until the Court orders otherwise, Lowell wrote. Moreover, should there be any discussion of revising Mr. Bidens existing conditions of release, there is no reason why these discussions cannot take place with the Court and the government present by video conference.

While President Joe Biden has always voiced his love and support for his son and his path to sobriety, the White House has maintained that the president would not pardon him on any potential convictions.

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