US President Joe Biden's son Hunter will plead not guilty to charges of illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, according to a court filing by his lawyer.
Hunter Biden was charged last week with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for a 2018 gun purchase that he was not using illegal drugs at the time.
The 53-year-old's lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, has asked the judge presiding over the case in the state of Delaware to hold the first court appearance by video conference instead of requiring his client to attend in person.
Hunter Biden lives in California.
"Mr. Biden understands both the charges against him and his rights ... and we believe the Court can be assured of that fact by conducting this initial appearance by video," Mr Lowell said in the letter to Judge Christopher Burke.
"Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference," Mr Lowell said.
"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."
Hunter Biden is also facing a third charge, based on the same statements, that he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October 2018.
If convicted on all three charges, he could face 25 years in prison, though in practice the offences are seldom punished by any jail time.
The indictment came days after Republicans in the US Congress opened an impeachment probe against Joe Biden, a Democrat, alleging that when he was vice president he benefited financially from his son's foreign business dealings.
They alleged, without offering hard evidence, that while vice president in 2015-2016, Mr Biden intervened to protect an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, where Hunter Biden sat on the board.
The gun charges against Hunter Biden were filed by US Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating him since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals.
A plea deal between Hunter Biden and Mr Weiss, covering the gun charge as well as alleged tax violations, collapsed two months ago.
Hunter Biden is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction.
His indictment has cast a shadow over his father's campaign for reelection next year.
