WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Hunter Biden's gun trial pressed Wednesday to show jurors the depths of his drug problem and to reveal through his own words the addiction they say was still going on when he filed out a form to buy a firearm.
First lady Jill Biden went to court for the third consecutive day to support her son, ahead of her trip to France to meet President Joe Biden, who was in Europe to mark the anniversary of D-Day.
Testimony continued with an FBI agent whose job was to establish that Hunter Biden had a drug problem when he purchased the gun in October 2018. Biden's ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, was also expected to take the stand. She was married to the president's son for roughly 20 years. They have three children and divorced in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much, according to her memoir, “If We Break," about the dissolution of their marriage.
Buhle is among several Biden family and friends expected to testify in a trial that has quickly become a highly personal and detailed tour of Hunter Biden's mistakes and drug use. The proceedings are unfolding as the 2024 presidential election looms, and allies worry about the toll it will take on the president, who is deeply concerned about the health and sustained sobriety of his only living son. Prosecutors argue that the testimony is necessary to show Hunter Biden's state of mind when he bought the gun.
Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of a gun in October 2018. He's accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
“No one is allowed to lie on a federal form like that, even Hunter Biden,” prosecutor Derek Hines told jurors Tuesday. “He crossed the line when he chose to buy a gun and lied about a federal background check ... the defendant’s choice to buy a gun is why we are here.”
As evidence of his drug use at the time of purchase, prosecutors showed jurors dozens of pages of Hunter Biden's memoir, “Beautiful Things,” written in 2021 after he got sober. They also heard lengthy audio excerpts from the book, which traces his descent into addiction following the death of his brother, Beau Biden, in 2015 from cancer and covers the period he bought the gun, though it doesn't mention the weapon specifically.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell has said Hunter Biden's state of mind was different when he wrote the book than when he purchased the gun, when he didn't believe he had an addiction. And the prosecutors must prove he had a drug problem when he filled out the document at the time of purchase.
In his cross-examination of the FBI agent, Erika Jensen, Lowell went through a large number of Hunter’s texts to establish that there were few messages that involved seeking or using drugs in the weeks before the gun purchase. He also raised questions about how the FBI could prove Hunter Biden was being truthful with family when he texted about seeking or using drugs.
And he pointed out several liquor store purchases in October 2018, the month Hunter Biden bought the gun. Lowell has suggested that references in his memoir to “relapsing” refer to alcohol abuse, not drug use.
Lowell also asked Jensen about text message exchanges that prosecutors say show evidence of Hunter Biden's drug use in 2018 and 2019. But Lowell pointed to a text to sent in November 2018 in which he confessed: “I’m a drunk.”
The Delaware trial comes after the collapse of a plea deal with prosecutors that would have resolved the gun case and a separate California tax case and avoided the spectacle of a trial. Hunter Biden has since pleaded not guilty and has said he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department, after Republicans slammed the now-defunct plea agreement as a sweetheart deal for the Democratic president’s son.
The 12-person panel heard opening statements Tuesday and testimony from Jensen, who read aloud some of Hunter Biden's personal messages, including some that came from a laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop and never retrieved. In 2020, the contents made their way to Republicans and were publicly leaked, revealing some highly personal messages about his work and his life. He has since sued over the leaked information.
Hines asked whether there was any evidence to suggest the laptop had been tampered with, and Jensen said no. But under questioning from Lowell, she also conceded there was no way to verify whether it had been altered.
Judge Maryellen Noreika gave Lowell a short leash on questioning the authenticity of the laptop during pretrial hearings, saying she would not allow her courtroom to become a home for Russian conspiracy theories.
Jurors will hear testimony from the president’s brother James Biden, who is close with Hunter and helped his nephew through rehab stints in the past. They will also hear how Beau Biden's widow, Hallie Biden, became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter after her husband's death.
Hallie took the gun from Hunter and tossed it into the garbage at a nearby market, afraid of what he might do with it. The weapon was later found by someone collecting cans and eventually turned over to police.
If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.
The trial is unfolding shortly after Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.
Hunter Biden also faces a trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.
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Long reported from Washington.
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