WILMINGTON, Del. Jurors in Hunter Biden’s criminal trial Thursday are hearing more from the former gun store clerk who sold him the .38-caliber Colt revolver at the center of the case.
The official testified Wednesday that he saw President Joe Biden’s son mark “no” to the question of whether he was “an illegal user of or addicted to” marijuana, stimulants, narcotics or any other controlled substance.
Federal prosecutors argued that Hunter Biden was addicted to crack cocaine when he purchased the gun and accused him of lying on the form. He was accused of three crimes: lying to a federally licensed gun dealer by making a false statement on the application that he was not a drug user and possessed the gun illegally for 11 days.
The Democratic president’s son arrived in court Thursday with a copy of his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” under his arm. The book, written after he got sober in 2021, is highly influential in prosecutors’ case: They played audio excerpts for jurors in which he details his descent into drugs and alcohol following the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015. .
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty and said the Justice Department is bowing to political pressure from Republicans and that he is being unfairly targeted.
Jurors had as evidence Form 4473, the firearms transaction record at the center of the case. And on Tuesday they saw the gun in the center of the box.
Gordon Cleveland, former StarQuest Shooters employee & Survival Supply on Wednesday told jurors that it walked Hunter Biden through some options before deciding on the $900 gun and saw Biden sign the form, which includes a warning about the consequences of submitting false information.
“Everything he bought, he finally decided,” he told jurors.
Much of the prosecution’s case so far has been devoted to highlighting the severity of his crack addiction and showing jurors bare-chested moments with ex-girlfriends, infidelity, crack pipes – lapses in judgment that they believe prove he was actively using when you marked no. Prosecutors argue that evidence is needed to show his state of mind when he purchased the gun.
The process unfolds after a legal settlement collapse that would have resolved the gun charge and a separate tax case, and spared the Biden family the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Now, First Lady Jill Biden has been spending her days in court, as President Joe Biden travels to France for the D-Day anniversary. Allies worry about the price this will have on the presidentwho is deeply concerned about the health and sustained sobriety of his only living son.
AND Friends and family of Hunter Biden are being called to testify.
Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter Biden for 20 years, told jurors on Wednesday that she discovered her husband was using drugs when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on the porch on July 3, 2015, the day after his birthday. . When she confronted him, “he acknowledged smoking crack,” she said.
Buhle testified that before she even found the drugs, she suspected he was using them. He had been kicked out of the Navy after testing positive for cocaine.
“I was definitely worried, scared,” she said. They have three children and divorced in 2016 after his infidelity and drug use became excessive, according to her memoir, “If We Break,” about the dissolution of their marriage.
Buhle, who was subpoenaed, testified for a brief 20 minutes. She remained composed but seemed upset as she recounted how she searched his car about a dozen times for drugs whenever the children drove it.
“Have you ever seen Hunter using drugs?” defense attorney Abbe Lowell asked Buhle.
“No,” she replied.
Then prosecutor Leo Wise asked Buhle how she knew Hunter Biden was using drugs.
“He told me,” she said.
Prosecutors also called Zoe Kestan, who testified under immunity about meeting Hunter Biden in December 2017 at a New York strip club where she worked. During a private session, he picked up a pipe and began smoking what she assumed was crack cocaine.
“He was incredibly charming, charismatic and friendly, and I felt very safe around him,” she said. “I remember that after he smoked nothing changed. He was the same charming person.”
Kestan detailed to jurors when he saw him use drugs, buy drugs, talk about drugs or possess drug paraphernalia. Prosecutors asked her where he kept his drugs and pipes, and she testified that he kept them in purses and other places, such as sunglasses cases.
During interrogation, Kestan acknowledged that he had no contact with him in October 2018, the period in which he purchased the weapon.
Prosecutors also used their own words as evidence through his memories and text messages he sent to friends and family. The memoir covers the period in which he purchased the gun, although it does not mention the gun specifically.
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 he suggested that Hunter Biden might have felt he had a drinking problem at the time rather than drugs. Alcohol abuse does not preclude the purchase of a gun.
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.
He will also face a separate trial in September at accusations of non-payment of $1.4 million in taxes.
In Congress, Republicans have been conducting an impeachment inquiry for months seeking to link President Biden to his son’s business dealings. So far, GOP lawmakers have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating President Biden in any wrongdoing. But on Wednesday, House Republicans impeached Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James Biden of making false statements to Congress as part of the inquiry.
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.
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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.
