WILMINGTON, Del. Federal Public Ministry in Biden Hunter spent hours showing jurors evidence of his drug problem, trying to reveal through his own words and writing the depth of his addiction to show it was still going on when, they say, he lied on a form to buy a firearm.
First Lady Jill Biden went to court Wednesday for a third day to support her son, before his trip to France to meet President Joe Bidenwho was in Europe to mark the anniversary of D-Day.
The testimony continued with the interrogation of an FBI agent who was being questioned about the timing of Hunter Biden’s drug use. Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, was also expected to testify. She was married to the president’s son for about 20 years. They have three children and divorced in 2016 after infidelity and drug use became excessive, according to her memoir, “If We Break,” about the dissolution of their marriage.
Buhle is among several family members and friends of Biden 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 process is unfolding as the 2024 presidential election appears and allies worry about the price this will have on the president, who is deeply concerned about the health and sustained sobriety of his only living son. Prosecutors argue the testimony is necessary to show Hunter Biden’s state of mind when he purchased the gun.
Hunter Biden was accused of three crimes stemming from the purchase of a gun in October 2018. He is accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application, saying he was not a drug user and that he possessed the gun illegally for 11 days.
“No one is allowed to lie on a federal form like this, not even Hunter Biden,” prosecutor Derek Hines told jurors Tuesday. “He crossed the line when he decided to buy a gun and lied on a federal background check…the defendant’s choice to buy a gun is why we are here.”
As proof of drug use at the time of purchase, prosecutors showed jurors dozens of pages from Hunter Biden’s book. memoir “Beautiful Things”, written in 2021 after he got sober. They also listened to long audio excerpts from the book, which chart his descent into addiction after the death of his brotherBeau Biden in 2015 from cancer and covers the period in which he purchased the gun, although it does not mention the gun specifically.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter Biden’s state of mind was different when he wrote the book than when he bought the gun, when he didn’t believe he had an addiction. And prosecutors must prove that he had drug problems when filling out the document at the time of purchase.
In his interrogation of FBI agent Erika Jensen, Lowell pointed to multiple liquor store purchases in October 2018, the month Hunter Biden purchased the gun. Lowell suggested that references in his memoir to “relapse” 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 message sent in November 2018 in which he confessed: “I am 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 said he is being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department after Republicans criticized 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 repair shop in Delaware and never recovered. In 2020, the content reached Republicans and leaked publicly, revealing some highly personal messages about his work and life. He has since sued over the leaked information.
In a conversation with Beau Biden’s widow, Hallie Biden, the day after he purchased the gun, she wrote, “I’ve called you 500 times in the last 24 hours.” Hunter responded less than a minute later, reporting that he was “sleeping in a car smoking crack on 4th and Rodney.”
“There lies my truth,” he added in a follow-up message.
But during cross-examination, Jensen testified that Hunter Biden sent fewer messages about looking for drugs in October 2018, around the time he purchased the gun, than he did in February 2019, a later period in which Lowell described his client as struggling. significantly against addiction.
Lowell also questioned receipts from a rehab facility, asking if Jensen knew whether he had been treated for drugs or alcohol. She said she couldn’t.
Lawyers said jurors would hear testimony from the president’s brother, James Biden, who is close to Hunter and has helped his nephew through rehabilitation in the past. They will also hear how Hallie Biden became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter.
Hallie took Hunter’s gun and threw it in the trash at a nearby grocery store, afraid of what he might do with it. The weapon was later found by someone collecting cans and was eventually handed over to the police.
If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders don’t get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.
The trial takes place shortly after Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, was convicted of 34 crimes In New York City. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity highlights how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.
Hunter Biden will also face a trial in California in September accusations of non-payment of $1.4 million in taxes. Both cases should have been resolved through a deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a years-long investigation into his dealings.
But Judge Maryellen Noreika, appointed to the court by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the agreement. The lawyers were unable to reach a resolution on their issues and the deal fell apart. Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed a former U.S. attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, as special advice in August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.
___
Long reported from Washington.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.
