HOUSTON: Special Counsel David Weiss plans to ask a grand jury to indict Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, over gun charges by the end of this month, the US Justice Department said.

"The Speedy Trial Act requires that the government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest," the office of Weiss said on Wednesday in a court filing.

"The government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date," the office added.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland last month appointed Weiss, the US attorney in Delaware, as special counsel for the probe into Hunter Biden after plea deal talks fell apart in late July, Xinhua news agency reported.

Special counsels in the US are typically appointed to investigate cases where the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it's deemed to be in the public interest.

Hunter Biden has been under investigation by a federal grand jury since 2018.