Tuesday, December 23rd on the RealClearPolitics Podcast – Joined by James S. Robbins, Dean of Academics at the Institute of World Politics
Bevan, Cannon & Walworth, RCP on SiriusXM
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Tag: Hunter Biden
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Hunter Biden Tries To Rewrite History | RealClearPolitics
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Hunter Biden was involved in pardon talks toward end of father’s term, source says
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Hunter Biden was involved in discussions about pardons toward the end of his father’s White House term, a source familiar with Jeff Zients’ interview with the House Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Zients met with House investigators behind closed doors for over six hours — the final former Biden administration official to appear in House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s probe into ex-President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen.
Comer, R-Ky., is also investigating whether Biden’s top aides covered up signs of mental decline in the former president, and whether executive decisions signed via autopen — including myriad clemency orders Biden approved — were executed with his full awareness.
Zients told investigators that Hunter was involved in some of those pardon discussions and attended a few meetings on the subject with White House aides, the source said.
President Joe Biden embraces Hunter Biden during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 19, 2024 in Chicago. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
It’s not clear how much say Hunter had in those meetings, or if he was involved in discussions about his own controversial pardon.
The former president issued a “full and unconditional” pardon for his son in early December, just under two months before leaving office.
That’s despite Biden and his staff denying the possibility of such a move on several occasions.
Biden approved nearly 2,500 commutations on Jan. 17, just days before leaving the White House, setting a record for most clemency orders ever granted by a U.S. president — more than 4,200 in total — and the most ever in a single day.
Weeks earlier, he issued pardons for several family members, including Hunter.
‘SHOULD BE PROSECUTED’: HOUSE REPUBLICANS ZERO IN ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS AFTER BOMBSHELL REPORT
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer is leading a probe into autopen use by President Joe Biden. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
It had been previously reported by NBC News and other outlets that Hunter sat in on White House meetings with Biden’s aides in the wake of the former president’s disastrous June 2024 debate against then-candidate Donald Trump.
Zients is the final former Biden aide expected to appear before the House Oversight Committee in its autopen probe.
The source familiar with his sit-down told Fox News Digital that Zients “admitted that President Biden’s speech stumbles increased as he aged.”
“He also noted that the president’s difficulty remembering dates and names worsened over time, including during the administration,” the source said.
A second source familiar with Zients’ comments to the House Oversight Committee defended his comments.
“As chief of staff, Jeff’s job was to ensure that the president met with a range of advisors to thoroughly consider issues so that the president could make the best decisions,” the second source told Fox News Digital.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks during an event to welcome his new chief of staff, Jeffrey Zients, in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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“Throughout Jeff’s time working with him, while President Biden valued input from a wide variety of advisors and experts, the final decisions were made by the president and the president alone,” the second source said.
“Jeff had full confidence in President Biden’s ability to serve as president and is proud of what President Biden accomplished during his four years in office.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Zients’ attorney and the law firm of Abbe Lowell, who was known to have defended Hunter previously, for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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LAPD, CHP Protect Harris After Secret Service Ends Detail
The Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol provide security to Harris in Los Angeles after her Secret Service security detail was rescinded on the 1st
As a homeowner in Brentwood, Los Angeles, Kamala Harris is being provided with security detail through local law enforcement. Credit: (Photo by Getty Images)The Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol have provided former Vice President Kamala Harris with a security detail, according to the LAPD’s Metropolitan Division. As many as 14 LAPD officers have been pulled from active cases to provide security for Harris.
On September 1st, Trump’s directive to end Secret Service protection for Harris went into effect. Throughout his second term so far, Trump has ended Secret Service protections for other former government officials and their children, including John Bolton, Hunter Biden, and Ashley Biden.
In 2008, a law was passed that provided vice presidents, their spouses, and their children who are under the age of 16 with Secret Service protection for 6 months after they serve. Biden signed an executive order in early January that extended Harris’s protections for 18 months after her term ended. Harris’s legally guaranteed 6 months of protection ended on July 21, but in recent years, vice presidents have been provided with protections for longer than 6 months due to heightened political tensions in the US.
To end Harris’s protections, Trump ordered Kristi Noem to rescind the protection through an executive order that amended Biden’s protective directives, according to two senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Secret Service ran an assessment on Harris and did not find anything alarming that would warrant extending her protection past the six months. Therefore, they are proceeding with the president’s directive to end protections for Harris.
Local Los Angeles officials are speaking out against Trump’s decision to rescind security detail for Harris.
“This is another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation in the form of firings, the revoking of security clearances and more,” Democratic LA Mayor Karen Bass told Fox 11 in a statement. “This puts the former vice president in danger and I look forward to working with the governor to make sure Vice President Harris is safe in Los Angeles”.
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Ava Mitchell
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Hunter Biden revives lawsuit against Fox News over explicit images used in streaming series
NEW YORK (AP) — Hunter Biden has revived a lawsuit that accuses Fox News of illegally publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series.
The president’s son first sued Fox in New York in July over images used in the Fox Nation series “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on charges he has not faced. He dropped the suit without explanation three weeks later, the same day President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race.
On Tuesday, Hunter Biden filed a largely identical suit in state court in Manhattan, again arguing that the dissemination of intimate images without his consent violates New York’s so-called revenge porn law. The new suit adds one current Fox executive one former executive as named defendants.
Biden’s attorney, Tina Glandian, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on why the suit was revived.
In a filing Tuesday, Fox asked that the case be moved to federal court. The company issued a statement describing the second suit as “once again devoid of any merit.”
“The core complaint stems from a 2022 streaming program that Mr. Biden did not complain about until sending a letter in late April 2024,” the statement said. “The program was removed within days of that letter, in an abundance of caution, but Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of multiple investigations and is now a convicted felon.”
Biden was convicted in July of three felony firearms charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018. The six-part Fox Nation series depicted a dramatized court proceeding on different, fictional charges.
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Hunter Biden’s Sentencing On Federal Guns Charges Delayed Until December – KXL
FILE – Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, speaks to guests during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, April 18, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden will be sentenced on felony firearms charges in December after the judge agreed to a delay requested by the defense.
President Joe Biden’s son was convicted in June of three felonies to the purchase of a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
He was initially scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, but the judge agreed to delay the hearing until Dec. 4 after Hunter Biden’s lawyers said they needed more time to adequately prepare.
The gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though he is likely to get far less time or avoid prison entirely.
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Grant McHill
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Hunter Biden intends to change his not guilty plea in federal tax case, attorney says
Hunter Biden plans to change his not guilty plea in his federal tax case, his defense attorney said Thursday just as jury selection was set to begin.President Joe Biden’s son is facing misdemeanor and felony charges in the case alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years during a period in which he has acknowledged struggling with a drug addiction.He was convicted in June of charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when prosecutors say he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.Defense attorney Abbe Lowell announced Hunter Biden’s plans to change his plea but did not provide further details.This is a breaking news update. The previous story follows below. Hunter Biden arrived Thursday at a Los Angeles courthouse for the first day of jury selection in his federal tax trial, just months after the president’s son was convicted of gun charges in a separate case.The case in Los Angeles federal court accuses Hunter Biden of a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in taxes while pulling in millions of dollars from foreign business entities. He is already facing potential prison time after a Delaware jury convicted him in June of lying on a 2018 federal form to purchase a gun that he possessed for 11 days.Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges related to his 2016 through 2019 taxes and his attorneys have indicated they will argue he didn’t act “willfully,” or with the intention to break the law, in part because of his well-documented struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, placed some restrictions on what jurors will be allowed to hear about the traumatic events that Hunter Biden’s family, friends and attorneys say led to his drug addiction.The judge barred attorneys from connecting his substance abuse struggles to the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden from cancer or the car accident that killed his mother and sister when he was a toddler. He also rejected a proposed defense expert lined up to testify about addiction.The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while flouting the tax law, spending his cash on things like strippers and luxury hotels — “in short, everything but his taxes.”Hunter Biden’s attorneys had asked Scarsi to also limit prosecutors from highlighting details of his expenses that they say amount to a “character assassination,” including payments made to strippers or pornographic websites. The judge has said in court papers that he will maintain “strict control” over the presentation of potentially salacious evidence.Meanwhile, prosecutors could present more details of Hunter Biden’s overseas dealings, which have been at the center of Republican investigations into the Biden family often seeking — without evidence— to tie the president to an alleged influence peddling scheme.The special counsel’s team has said it wants to tell jurors about Hunter Biden’s work for a Romanian businessman, who they say sought to “influence U.S. government policy” while Joe Biden was vice president.The defense accused prosecutors of releasing details about Hunter Biden’s work for the Romanian in court papers to drum up media coverage and taint the jury pool.The judge will ask a group of prospective jurors a series of questions to determine whether they can serve on the jury, including whether their political views and knowledge of the case would prevent them from being impartial.Potential jurors are expected to be asked about their own family and personal histories with substance abuse as well as any tax issues and past dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. And despite President Joe Biden dropping his bid for reelection, they’ll also answer questions about whether they believe criminal charges can be filed for political reasons.A heavily scrutinized plea deal and diversion agreement that would have prevented either trial from moving forward collapsed in July 2023 under questioning from a judge. Special counsel indicted Hunter Biden soon after, splitting the deal into the Delaware gun charges and the California tax case.Sentencing in Hunter Biden’s Delaware conviction is set for Nov. 13. He could face up to 25 years in prison, but as a first-time offender, he is likely to get far less time or avoid prison entirely.
LOS ANGELES —Hunter Biden plans to change his not guilty plea in his federal tax case, his defense attorney said Thursday just as jury selection was set to begin.
President Joe Biden’s son is facing misdemeanor and felony charges in the case alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years during a period in which he has acknowledged struggling with a drug addiction.
He was convicted in June of charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when prosecutors say he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell announced Hunter Biden’s plans to change his plea but did not provide further details.
This is a breaking news update. The previous story follows below.
Hunter Biden arrived Thursday at a Los Angeles courthouse for the first day of jury selection in his federal tax trial, just months after the president’s son was convicted of gun charges in a separate case.
The case in Los Angeles federal court accuses Hunter Biden of a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in taxes while pulling in millions of dollars from foreign business entities. He is already facing potential prison time after a Delaware jury convicted him in June of lying on a 2018 federal form to purchase a gun that he possessed for 11 days.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges related to his 2016 through 2019 taxes and his attorneys have indicated they will argue he didn’t act “willfully,” or with the intention to break the law, in part because of his well-documented struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, placed some restrictions on what jurors will be allowed to hear about the traumatic events that Hunter Biden’s family, friends and attorneys say led to his drug addiction.
The judge barred attorneys from connecting his substance abuse struggles to the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden from cancer or the car accident that killed his mother and sister when he was a toddler. He also rejected a proposed defense expert lined up to testify about addiction.
The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while flouting the tax law, spending his cash on things like strippers and luxury hotels — “in short, everything but his taxes.”
Hunter Biden’s attorneys had asked Scarsi to also limit prosecutors from highlighting details of his expenses that they say amount to a “character assassination,” including payments made to strippers or pornographic websites. The judge has said in court papers that he will maintain “strict control” over the presentation of potentially salacious evidence.
Meanwhile, prosecutors could present more details of Hunter Biden’s overseas dealings, which have been at the center of Republican investigations into the Biden family often seeking — without evidence— to tie the president to an alleged influence peddling scheme.
The special counsel’s team has said it wants to tell jurors about Hunter Biden’s work for a Romanian businessman, who they say sought to “influence U.S. government policy” while Joe Biden was vice president.
The defense accused prosecutors of releasing details about Hunter Biden’s work for the Romanian in court papers to drum up media coverage and taint the jury pool.
The judge will ask a group of prospective jurors a series of questions to determine whether they can serve on the jury, including whether their political views and knowledge of the case would prevent them from being impartial.
Potential jurors are expected to be asked about their own family and personal histories with substance abuse as well as any tax issues and past dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. And despite President Joe Biden dropping his bid for reelection, they’ll also answer questions about whether they believe criminal charges can be filed for political reasons.
A heavily scrutinized plea deal and diversion agreement that would have prevented either trial from moving forward collapsed in July 2023 under questioning from a judge. Special counsel indicted Hunter Biden soon after, splitting the deal into the Delaware gun charges and the California tax case.
Sentencing in Hunter Biden’s Delaware conviction is set for Nov. 13. He could face up to 25 years in prison, but as a first-time offender, he is likely to get far less time or avoid prison entirely.
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(Media News) Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Miniseries, Alleging Defamation and Harassment
Hunter Biden has sued Fox News over a miniseries it published and later removed from its Fox Nation streaming service. In a lawsuit filed Monday in the Supreme Court of New York, Biden’s attorneys claim Fox targeted him to “harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate him, and tarnish his reputation.”
The lawsuit alleges that the series manipulated facts, distorted the truth, and created dialogue to entertain rather than inform. Biden’s attorneys first threatened legal action in April, prompting Fox to take down the series.
Fox News responded, calling the lawsuit “entirely politically motivated” and “devoid of merit.” They noted that Biden only complained about the series, which has been available since 2022, in late April 2024. The network asserted that Hunter Biden is a public figure subject to multiple investigations and a convicted felon, adding that Fox News covered his newsworthy actions accurately and looks forward to defending its rights in court.
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What To Know About Marijuana And Gun Ownership
Recently, there has been a series of high profile people have have been convicted which has started the conversation about guns and marijuana. Under federal law, felons are prohibited from owning or possessing guns. But, some states allows a felon’s rights to own a gun after serving their sentence or a waiting period. But it is a process. Roughly 32% of U.S. adults say they own a gun and 44%, report living in a gun household.
But almost half of Americans have tried weed at one point. Of course, they haven’t committed a crime, they have just consumed marijuana. Almost 85% believe it should be legal in some form. And over 50% of the population have access to legal cannabis.
RELATED: THE DEA DECIDES TO RESCHEDULE MARIJUANA
But, if you own a firearm and use marijuana you are in violation of federal law. It is unlawful for an unauthorized user of a controlled substance, including marijuana, to possess, ship, transport, or receive firearms or ammunition. It is also unlawful to sell a firearm or ammunition to any person if the seller knows or has reasonable cause to believe that such person is an unlawful user of marijuana. In this context, unlawful use is based on federal law. Therefore, any person who uses marijuana, even if legal under state law, is prohibited from possessing or purchasing firearms or ammunition.
Photo by Lumppini/Getty Images This prohibition does not apply to users of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) or hemp products because these are not controlled substances for purposes of federal law, thanks to the 2018 Agricultural Improvement Act, known as the 2018 Farm Bill.
In order to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed dealer, an individual must complete Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) Form 4473, which asks if you are an “unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana,” and includes a warning that the recreational and medical use of cannabis under state law does not alter the federal Controlled Substances Act which makes it illegal to possess, manufacture, or distribute marijuana. It is a separate crime to lie about your marijuana use on the form. You can also be subject to heightened criminal penalties if found in possession of a firearm and marijuana at the same time.
RELATED: What Would Happen If Gun Laws Were Enforced Like Marijuana Laws?
If you are a medical marijuana user, it may be possible for law enforcement to obtain this information from a medical marijuana patient registry or state database to confirm your use of marijuana. Several states, including Maryland, have tried to protect medical marijuana patients by preventing state police from accessing the medical cannabis patient registry to verify whether a firearm applicant uses medical marijuana. However, some states, like Hawaii, explicitly grant law enforcement access to the state’s medical cannabis patient registry to evaluate whether an individual can legally possess a firearm.
RELATED: The Battle Between Gun Ownership And Medical Marijuana In Conservative States
Regardless of whether a state grants access to patient databases, the possession of a firearm and ammunition remains illegal federally if you are a cannabis user. Restricting access to medical marijuana databases simply makes it harder to determine whether a firearm applicant uses marijuana.
Firearms remain out-of-reach for cannabis consumers, even if your state has legalized cannabis. States cannot change the federal requirements for gun ownership and have no authority to supersede the ATF Form 4473 guidance documents that addresses marijuana use and gun ownership. Therefore, until marijuana is fully legalized on the federal level, it’s important to remember to keep your hands off those firearms.
Terry Hacienda
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6/11: The Daily Report with John Dickerson
6/11: The Daily Report with John Dickerson – CBS News
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Hunter Biden Conviction Blows Up Republican Conspiracy Theories
Hunter Biden’s conviction in Delaware over a minor charge is significant mainly because it blows to smithereens the arguments Republicans have made on behalf of Donald Trump. There’s the small claim that Trump didn’t receive a fair trial, that blue-state juries can’t render impartial verdicts on famous political figures. Analysts predicted a jury in Delaware, a tiny state where everybody seems to personally know and adore the Biden family, would go easy on his son. But this failed to transpire.
Most important is the idea that Joe Biden is personally “weaponizing” the justice system to target Trump. House Republicans devoted a hearing last week to pressing their unsubstantiated claim that Biden had orchestrated Alvin Bragg’s moves, as “evidenced” by Bragg’s hiring of an attorney with DOJ experience, a move they seem to believe is unusual.
It is not just the Trumpiest conservatives who believe this. Mainstream conservative pundits routinely assert that “the Democrats” — not just one Democratic prosecutor — decided to lock up Trump. Four-fifths of Republican voters, according to a recent poll, believe the decisions to prosecute Trump in New York came “from the Biden administration,” not from “prosecutors in New York.”
To hold this theory together — which, again, is the belief held by a supermajority of Republicans, not just the Glenn Beck audience — you have to believe Biden is directing the activities of local prosecutors while exerting no control at all over the Justice Department of the branch of government he presides over.
Hunter Biden was convicted of lying on a form he submitted to purchase a firearm, which his wife quickly found and threw away without its ever being used. Elie Honig has argued that these charges, while legally valid, are the sort of case prosecutors would normally ignore.
Where are the legions of conservatives hysterically warning about rogue prosecutions? I believe balance dictates that we are due for several thousand incantations of Lavrentiy Beria’s infamous quote “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”
Sadly, conservative media, which had previously treated Hunter Biden’s addiction-fueled problems as America’s most pressing issue, have found his case less compelling even as its legal phase reached its climax.
“Where’s Hunter?” they taunted for months. Well, here he is, being held to the strictest legal standard by his father’s supposedly rigged Justice Department. And here is his father, mustering all the dignity he can to respect the verdict and even promise not to pardon his son.
It could not be more obvious that one candidate in this race genuinely believes in upholding the rule of law, while the other is a criminal who wishes to regain control of the government to run it like a mafia state.
Jonathan Chait
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6/10: CBS Evening News
6/10: CBS Evening News – CBS News
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Jurors will resume deliberations in federal gun case against Hunter Biden
Jurors will resume deliberations Tuesday in the criminal case against President Joe Biden’s son over a gun Hunter Biden bought in 2018 when prosecutors say he was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction.
Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before leaving the federal courthouse in Delaware Monday afternoon. They are weighing whether Hunter Biden is guilty of three felonies in the case pitting the younger Biden against his father’s Justice Department in the middle of the president’s reelection campaign.
Prosecutors spent last week using testimony from his ex-wife and former girlfriends, photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia and other tawdry evidence to make the case that he lied when he checked “no” on the form at the gun shop that asked whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” drugs.
“He knew he was using drugs. That’s what the evidence shows. And he knew he was addicted to drugs. That’s what the evidence shows,” prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors in his closing argument Monday.
Hunter Biden’s substance abuse struggles after the 2015 death of his brother Beau are well-documented. But the defense has argued that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he bought the gun and checked “no” on the form that asked whether he was “an unlawful user” of drugs or addicted to them.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers have sought to show he was trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018. The defense called three witnesses, including Hunter’s daughter Naomi, who told jurors that her father seemed be improving in the weeks before he bought the gun.
And the defense told jurors that no one actually witnessed Hunter Biden using drugs during the 11 days he had the gun before Beau’s widow, Hallie, found it in Hunter’s truck and threw it in a trash can. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell suggested that prosecutors were presenting circumstantial evidence like a magician might present a card trick, trying to get jurors to focus on one hand and ignore the other.
“With my last breath in this case, I ask for the only verdict that will hold the prosecutors to what the law requires of them” — a verdict of not guilty, Lowell said in his final pitch to jurors.
But prosecutors have shown jurors text messages sent in the days after the gun purchase in which Hunter Biden told Hallie he was waiting for a dealer and smoking crack. Hallie and Hunter briefly dated after Beau’s death. Prosecutors have also said they found cocaine residue on the pouch in which Hallie put the gun before tossing it in a trash can outside an upscale grocery store.
First lady Jill Biden, the president’s brother James and other family members watched from the first row of the courtroom as the defense rested its case on Monday without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand. The first lady has been in court almost every day since the trial began last week.
Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to focus on the “overwhelming” evidence against Hunter Biden and pay no mind to members of the president’s family sitting in the courtroom.
“All of this is not evidence,” Wise said, extending his hand and directing the jury to look at the gallery. “People sitting in the gallery are not evidence.”
The defense has tried to poke holes in the case by pressing the prosecution’s witnesses on their recollection of certain events. Hunter Biden’s lawyer told jurors they should consider testimony from Hallie and another ex-girlfriend “with great care and caution,” noting their immunity agreements with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony.
The proceedings have played out in the president’s home state, where Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established. Joe Biden spent 36 years as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington, and Beau Biden was the state’s attorney general.
Hunter Biden did not testify but jurors repeatedly heard his voice when prosecutors played audio excerpts of his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” in which he talks about hitting bottom after Beau’s death, and descending into drugs and alcohol before his eventual sobriety in 2019.
Hunter Biden had hoped last year to resolve a long-running federal investigation into his business dealings under a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Under the deal, he would have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and avoided prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble for two years.
But the deal fell apart after District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated by Trump, questioned unusual aspects of the proposed agreement, and the lawyers could not resolve the matter.
Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed top investigator David Weiss, Delaware’s U.S. attorney, as a special counsel last August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.
Hunter Biden has said he was charged because the Justice Department bowed to pressure from Republicans who argued the Democratic president’s son was getting special treatment.
Under that deal, prosecutors would have recommended two years of probation. In the gun case, the three counts carry up to 25 years in prison, though the sentence would ultimately be up to the judge and it’s unclear whether she would put him behind bars if he’s convicted.
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Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Mike Catalini and Matt Slocum in Wilmington and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
Randall Chase, Claudia Lauer, Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer | Associated Press
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Could Donald Trump’s Revenge Fantasies Come Back to Bite Him?
Is Donald Trump rooting for Hunter Biden to be acquitted on charges of illegal gun possession, even after years of ranting that the “Biden crime family” belongs in jail? It would make a certain twisted sense: “See, the fix was in all along!” the former president could claim if Hunter is exonerated. “Just like my trial was rigged! Joe Biden has corrupted the judicial system!”
Maybe the MAGA base would buy it. The facts, of course, make the argument ludicrous. There’s no evidence whatsoever that the president attempted to influence the Manhattan district attorney’s prosecution of Trump. Quite the opposite: Joe Biden’s Department of Justice declined to pursue charges related to the Stormy Daniels hush money allegations, while it has indicted New Jersey Democratic senator Robert Menendez (on bribery charges and other accusations) and Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar (on charges of bribery, money laundering, and acting as a foreign agent), and just finished presenting its case against Biden’s younger son in a Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom. “The Merrick Garland Justice Department isn’t going after our enemies,” a top Democratic strategist says. “They go after the people who they think have broken the law.”
Some prominent Democrats, including Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, have been pointing out the hypocrisy of Republicans decrying the Trump prosecution as partisan while Hunter Biden stands trial. You will not, however, hear that point being made by the Biden campaign itself. The quickest way to shorten a conversation with someone in Bidenworld has always been to bring up Hunter’s troubles. He remains a sensitive subject, for both political and personal reasons. When I asked Ted Kaufman, Joe Biden’s longtime friend and his successor as a Delaware senator, about the complicated line between presidenting and parenting, the answer was quick and curt. “I’m not going to get into that,” Kauffman said. “Let me make something clear: He has demonstrated time and time and time again how much he cares for Hunter. He’s one of the most incredible fathers.”
Joe Biden’s decency and empathy should indeed help his cause, particularly in contrast to Trump’s lack of both qualities. Yet voters, understandably, care most about what the White House can do for them. That’s why the economy, immigration, abortion, and democracy so often rank among the top priorities in the presidential campaign. So Biden’s team would be fine with Trump’s campaign burning up more time and energy on issues that motivate only MAGA. “How many people do you think are going to the ballot box and voting based on Hunter? Like, zero-point-zero,” a Biden insider says. “Voters vote on what’s better for them and their lives.”
In the weeks since Trump’s conviction on 34 counts, another theory has been bandied about inside Bidenworld: In a race that will likely be decided by a sliver of votes in a handful of swing states, the more Trump and allies like Steve Bannon and Megyn Kelly fulminate about retribution—or about using the federal government to go after not just the Bidens but perhaps Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—the more the American judicial system itself could become a contributing, indirect issue for voters who say they are still on the fence.
Trump’s authoritarian rants, inflamed by his anger over his Manhattan conviction, can help the Biden campaign amplify two of its existing, important themes: that the Republican candidate cares only about himself, and that his reelection would return chaos to the most powerful office in government. The key in successfully selling that message, however, will be connecting Trump’s norm-destroying rage to his ability to damage everyday American life, in areas from reducing job growth and access to affordable health care to worsening climate change and the tax gap between the rich and everyone else. “Yes, I want Democrats to be talking about Trump’s conviction,” says Jim Messina, who managed Obama’s successful 2012 reelection run and is an outside adviser to Biden’s 2024 reelection bid. “I also think you can walk and chew gum at the same time. We’re still losing the economic argument. Hillary’s great failing in 2016 was not that she didn’t make Trump’s behavior clear—it was not making people understand why it hurts them economically. And we’ve just got to do that.”
What a jury decides about Hunter Biden is unlikely to factor into that campaign equation. But Trump’s threat to aggressively weaponize the judicial system just might.
Chris Smith
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Prosecutor says ‘no one is above the law’ as he urges jurors to convict Hunter Biden in gun case
A prosecutor said Monday that “no one is above the law” as he urged jurors to convict President Joe Biden’s son Hunter on charges that he lied about his drug use when he bought a gun in 2018.Prosecutor Leo Wise began his closing argument soon after the defense rested without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand. Defendants are not required to testify and are often advised by lawyers not to do so because it opens them up to grilling by prosecutors on cross-examination.The case has laid bare some of the darkest moments of Hunter Biden’s drug-fueled past.“The evidence was personal. It was ugly, and it was overwhelming. It was also absolutely necessary,” Wise told jurors.Earlier, Hunter Biden smiled as he chatted with members of his defense team and flashed a thumbs-up to one of his supporters in the gallery after the final witness — an FBI agent called by prosecutors in their rebuttal case.Several family members — including First Lady Jill Biden and the president’s brother James — sat in the first row of the Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom. At one point, Hunter Biden leaned over a railing to whisper in his mother’s ear. She has sat through most of the trial, missing only one day last week to attend D-Day anniversary events with the president in France.Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies stemming from the October 2018 purchase of a gun he had for about 11 days. Prosecutors say he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.He has pleaded not guilty and has accused the Justice Department of bending to political pressure from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans to bring the gun case and separate tax charges after a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year.Hunter Biden’s lawyers last week called three witnesses — including his daughter Naomi — as they tried to show that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he filled out the form.As court began Monday, the two sides argued over instructions given to the jury before deliberations. Defense attorneys said the proposed jury instructions included “overly expansive and amorphous” definitions of what it means to be a drug “user” and to “possess” a firearm. The defense argued that the language would deny Hunter Biden a fair trial and told the judge that any conviction obtained using those instructions cannot be sustained on appeal.Both Hunter and the prosecutors scanned the jury as U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika instructed them on the law. Some jurors took notes with yellow pencils, and many followed along with the judge’s instructions, turning pages as she read aloud from the bench.The case has put a spotlight on a turbulent time in Hunter Biden’s life after the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015.Hunter Biden’s struggles with addiction before getting sober more than five years ago are well documented. But defense lawyers argue there’s no evidence he was actually using drugs in the 11 days that he possessed the gun. He had completed a rehab program weeks earlier.Jurors have heard emotional testimony from Hunter Biden’s former romantic partners and read personal text messages. They’ve seen photos of him holding a crack pipe and partly clothed, and video from his phone of crack cocaine weighed on a scale.His ex-wife and two former girlfriends testified for prosecutors about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. One woman, who met Hunter Biden in 2017 at a strip club where she worked, described him smoking crack every 20 minutes or so while she stayed with him at a hotel.Jurors have heard him describe at length his descent into addiction through audio excerpts played in court of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.” The book, written after he got sober, covers the period he had the gun but doesn’t mention it specifically.A key witness for prosecutors was Beau’s widow, Hallie, who had a brief troubled relationship with Hunter after his brother died of brain cancer. She found the unloaded gun in Hunter’s truck on Oct. 23, 2018, panicked and tossed it into a garbage can at a grocery store in Wilmington, where a man inadvertently fished it out of the trash.From the time Hunter returned to Delaware from a 2018 trip to California until she threw his gun away, she did not see him using drugs, Hallie told jurors. That time period included the day he bought the weapon. But jurors also saw text messages Hunter sent to Hallie in October 2018 saying he was waiting for a dealer and smoking crack. The first message was sent the day after he bought the gun. The second was sent the following day.The defense has suggested Hunter Biden had been trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.“It was only after the gun was thrown away and the ensuing stress … that the government was able to then find the same type of evidence of his use (e.g., photos, use of drug lingo) that he relapsed with drugs,” defense lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote in court papers filed Friday.Naomi Biden took the stand for the defense Friday, telling jurors about visiting her father while he was at a California rehab center weeks before he bought the gun. She told jurors that he seemed “hopeful” and to be improving, and she told him she was proud of him.Joe Biden said last week that he would accept the jury’s verdict and has ruled out a presidential pardon for his son. After flying back from France, the president was at his home in Wilmington for the day and was expected in Washington in the evening for a Juneteenth concert. He was scheduled to travel to Italy later this week for the Group of Seven leaders conference.Last summer, it looked as if Hunter Biden would avoid prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors imploded after the judge, who was nominated to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump, raised concerns about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.If convicted in the gun case, he 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.
WILMINGTON, Del. —A prosecutor said Monday that “no one is above the law” as he urged jurors to convict President Joe Biden’s son Hunter on charges that he lied about his drug use when he bought a gun in 2018.
Prosecutor Leo Wise began his closing argument soon after the defense rested without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand. Defendants are not required to testify and are often advised by lawyers not to do so because it opens them up to grilling by prosecutors on cross-examination.
The case has laid bare some of the darkest moments of Hunter Biden’s drug-fueled past.
“The evidence was personal. It was ugly, and it was overwhelming. It was also absolutely necessary,” Wise told jurors.
Earlier, Hunter Biden smiled as he chatted with members of his defense team and flashed a thumbs-up to one of his supporters in the gallery after the final witness — an FBI agent called by prosecutors in their rebuttal case.
Several family members — including First Lady Jill Biden and the president’s brother James — sat in the first row of the Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom. At one point, Hunter Biden leaned over a railing to whisper in his mother’s ear. She has sat through most of the trial, missing only one day last week to attend D-Day anniversary events with the president in France.
Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies stemming from the October 2018 purchase of a gun he had for about 11 days. Prosecutors say he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
He has pleaded not guilty and has accused the Justice Department of bending to political pressure from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans to bring the gun case and separate tax charges after a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers last week called three witnesses — including his daughter Naomi — as they tried to show that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he filled out the form.
As court began Monday, the two sides argued over instructions given to the jury before deliberations. Defense attorneys said the proposed jury instructions included “overly expansive and amorphous” definitions of what it means to be a drug “user” and to “possess” a firearm. The defense argued that the language would deny Hunter Biden a fair trial and told the judge that any conviction obtained using those instructions cannot be sustained on appeal.
Both Hunter and the prosecutors scanned the jury as U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika instructed them on the law. Some jurors took notes with yellow pencils, and many followed along with the judge’s instructions, turning pages as she read aloud from the bench.
The case has put a spotlight on a turbulent time in Hunter Biden’s life after the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015.
Hunter Biden’s struggles with addiction before getting sober more than five years ago are well documented. But defense lawyers argue there’s no evidence he was actually using drugs in the 11 days that he possessed the gun. He had completed a rehab program weeks earlier.
Jurors have heard emotional testimony from Hunter Biden’s former romantic partners and read personal text messages. They’ve seen photos of him holding a crack pipe and partly clothed, and video from his phone of crack cocaine weighed on a scale.
His ex-wife and two former girlfriends testified for prosecutors about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. One woman, who met Hunter Biden in 2017 at a strip club where she worked, described him smoking crack every 20 minutes or so while she stayed with him at a hotel.
Jurors have heard him describe at length his descent into addiction through audio excerpts played in court of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.” The book, written after he got sober, covers the period he had the gun but doesn’t mention it specifically.
A key witness for prosecutors was Beau’s widow, Hallie, who had a brief troubled relationship with Hunter after his brother died of brain cancer. She found the unloaded gun in Hunter’s truck on Oct. 23, 2018, panicked and tossed it into a garbage can at a grocery store in Wilmington, where a man inadvertently fished it out of the trash.
From the time Hunter returned to Delaware from a 2018 trip to California until she threw his gun away, she did not see him using drugs, Hallie told jurors. That time period included the day he bought the weapon. But jurors also saw text messages Hunter sent to Hallie in October 2018 saying he was waiting for a dealer and smoking crack. The first message was sent the day after he bought the gun. The second was sent the following day.
The defense has suggested Hunter Biden had been trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.
“It was only after the gun was thrown away and the ensuing stress … that the government was able to then find the same type of evidence of his use (e.g., photos, use of drug lingo) that he relapsed with drugs,” defense lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote in court papers filed Friday.
Naomi Biden took the stand for the defense Friday, telling jurors about visiting her father while he was at a California rehab center weeks before he bought the gun. She told jurors that he seemed “hopeful” and to be improving, and she told him she was proud of him.
Joe Biden said last week that he would accept the jury’s verdict and has ruled out a presidential pardon for his son. After flying back from France, the president was at his home in Wilmington for the day and was expected in Washington in the evening for a Juneteenth concert. He was scheduled to travel to Italy later this week for the Group of Seven leaders conference.
Last summer, it looked as if Hunter Biden would avoid prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors imploded after the judge, who was nominated to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump, raised concerns about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.
If convicted in the gun case, he 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.
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Prosecutors in Hunter Biden gun trial expected to wrap case today
Prosecutors in Hunter Biden’s gun trial are expected to call their last two witnesses Friday, following testimony a day ago from key witness Hallie Biden, who was romantically involved with Hunter Biden and found and disposed of the gun at the center of the case.
Next, Hunter Biden’s attorneys will present their case, which could include putting him on the witness stand.
The prosecution’s last two witnesses Friday morning are expected to be a chemist for the FBI and a DEA agent.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys said Thursday they hadn’t yet decided if they’ll call him to the stand. He is charged with three felonies stemming from his alleged purchase of a revolver in October 2018. Two of the charges are related to accusations that he made false statements on a federal gun form about his drug use, certifying he was not a user of or addicted to any controlled substance during a period when prosecutors allege he was addicted to crack cocaine.
The other charge is for allegedly owning the gun unlawfully, possessing the gun for 11 days before Hallie Biden found and discarded the weapon.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Hallie Biden, who is also the widow of Beau Biden, Hunter Biden’s late brother, testified Thursday that she “panicked” when she found the gun, saying it was “stupid” but she was worried one of the children would find it.
She told the court she discovered it when she was clearing out his car, which she often searched for drugs and alcohol. Prosecutors introduced parking lot surveillance footage that showed her driving into a grocery store parking lot and tossing the gun into a dumpster, followed by another clip showing her returning to the store to search for the gun.
Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell has given a few clues about how the defense may try to counter the prosecution’s case.
While Hunter Biden’s issues with drugs are well known — including in his own memoir, “Beautiful Things” — Lowell has sought to raise questions about whether Hunter Biden knowingly omitted the information from the disclosure form. In his opening statement, Lowell said that many addicts are in “denial” about their drug use.
Potential jurors were asked during jury selection if they had any experience with drug addiction, and many said they had immediate connection with someone struggling with drug or alcohol abuse.
Prosecutors showed texts Thursday between Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden from Oct. 2018 — when he allegedly bought the gun — where Hunter Biden said he was “buying,” as well as another in which she said her son was sitting near a “stern,” or crack pipe, in her house.
Hallie Biden also told the court that Hunter Biden introduced her to crack cocaine during the time they were romantically involved.
“It was a terrible experience that I went through and I’m embarrassed and ashamed, and I regret that period of my life,” she said.
Lowell also questioned Gordon Cleveland, who testified that he had sold Hunter Biden the firearm, about the condition of the form at the center of the case and the rules required for any changes made after submission. Cleveland testified that Hunter Biden did not seem confused by the form.
And Lowell sought Wednesday to cast doubt on the authenticity of text messages allegedly taken from Hunter Biden’s personal devices, which have so far been introduced as evidence. Under questioning from Lowell, FBI special agent Erika Jensen said Wednesday that she could not verify the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop admitted into evidence had not been tampered with before law enforcement collected it from a repair shop.
In addition to Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter for over 20 years, and his former girlfriend Zoe Kestan have both testified about his alleged drug use.
Several Biden family members have attended his trial, including his half-sister, Ashley Biden, and first lady Jill Biden before she left to join President Biden in Europe. ABC News’ David Muir asked President Biden in an interview on Thursday if he would rule out pardoning his son if he is convicted. Mr. Biden responded, “Yes.”
The president’s son faces up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines if convicted on all counts.
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4 big takeaways from Day 3 of Hunter Biden’s federal gun case
WILMINGTON, Del. — Prosecutors in Hunter Biden‘s federal gun case summoned two of his exes to the stand Wednesday in an effort to chip away at the defense’s argument that the president’s son wasn’t addicted to drugs when he filled out a form to purchase a firearm in 2018.
President Joe Biden’s son faces three counts of lying on a federal form about his drug use to procure the firearm in October of 2018. He has denied wrongdoing.
Ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan said she observed him smoking crack cocaine in late September of that year, just weeks before he walked into a Delaware gun shop and purchased a Colt Cobra from Gordon Cleveland, another witness who testified on Wednesday.
RELATED: 4 big takeaways from 1st day of testimony in Hunter Biden’s gun trial
Kathleen Buhle, the ex-wife of Hunter Biden, said Hunter Biden was “angry” and “short-tempered” when he was on crack, but nonetheless managed to “function” normally as an addict — possibly undermining the defense’s claim that “there is no such thing as a high-functioning crack addict.”
Before court concluded, prosecutors suggested they could rest their case as soon as Thursday afternoon after hearing testimony from six additional witnesses.
Here are four big takeaways from Day 3 of the trial.
Ex-girlfriend testifies about Hunter Biden’s drug use
Zoe Kestan, who met Hunter Biden as a private dancer at a New York gentlemen’s club, said she saw Biden smoke crack the night they met in December 2017 and consistently throughout their yearlong romantic relationship.
In the first week of their relationship, Kestan, who was 24 years old at the time, said she “felt a connection” with the 48-year-old Biden — despite his use of crack “every 20 minutes or so.”
Twice during her testimony Kestan said she did not notice changes in his behavior while he was on drugs, casting doubt on defense attorney Abbe Lowell’s claim that those close to him would have known whether or not he was abusing drugs at the time of his gun purchase.
“I remember thinking to myself that I didn’t notice a change in his behavior,” Kestan said.
“The first ten minutes he was incredibly charming and charismatic and friendly,” she said. “After he had smoked, he was the same charming person.”
Kestan also testified that she saw him smoking crack in Malibu as late as Sept. 20, 2018 — a timeline that could undercut the defense’s argument that he was abusing alcohol and not drugs when he purchased the gun on Oct. 12.
But Kestan also conceded on cross-examination that she had “no idea” what Hunter Biden was up to from Sept. 23, when he left California, until November, when the two reconnected.
“So you don’t have any idea of what he was doing from the moment he left California to the moment you saw him again in November?” Lowell asked.
“No idea,” Kestan said.
Clerk says he watched Hunter Biden fill out form
Gordon Cleveland, the gun store employee who sold Hunter Biden the gun in question, testified that he watched from “about two feet” away as Hunter Biden filled out the form that asked applicants whether they were active drug users.
After Biden selected the Colt Cobra for purchase, Cleveland said he asked him to fill out the form required for “every gun purchase” — Form 4473. Cleveland said he instructed Biden to write in his personal information and answer the questions below, “and to take your time answering them,” he testified.
Cleveland testified that he watched as Hunter Biden answered several questions before he approached the drug-related question then marked the box with an “X.”
Cleveland said Hunter Biden did not express any confusion regarding the question.
Ex-wife testifies she saw drug remnants
Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle testified about Hunter Biden’s alcohol and drug abuse during their 25-year marriage, describing how their relationship deteriorated as her husband’s drug abuse increased.
When Hunter Biden was on crack, Buhle testified, “He was not himself.”
RELATED: Hunter Biden’s ex-wife testifies about crack use; Gun store clerk testifies about revolver purchase
“He was angry, short-tempered, acting in ways he wouldn’t when he was sober,” she said.
Buhle said she would find drug “remnants in little bags” and drug paraphernalia like “a broken crack pipe” — often enough that she would search his car before allowing her daughters to use it.
Buhle admitted during cross-examination that she never personally saw Hunter Biden use drugs.
Government could rest as soon as Thursday
Prosecutor Derek Hines said before court concluded for the day that he anticipated resting his case as soon as the end of the day Thursday.
He said the government has six brief witnesses remaining — including several law enforcement officials and Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden.
Lowell said he would be prepared to call his first witness on Friday morning if the government rests its case Thursday.
Gordon Cleveland is scheduled to return to the stand on Thursday morning when testimony resumes.
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Hunter Biden’s ex-wife testifies about his drug use
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A look at the key witnesses in Hunter Biden’s federal firearms trial
Jurors who will decide whether President Joe Biden’s son is guilty of federal firearms charges are hearing deeply personal testimony about a dark period for Hunter Biden.
The case playing out in the federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, stems from a gun the younger Biden bought in October 2018, months before his father announced his bid for the presidency.
Prosecutors say Hunter Biden lied when he swore he wasn’t a drug user on a federal form he filled out at the gun shop. He had the gun for about 11 days before it was thrown in a trash can.
Hunter Biden’s attorney argues his client did not believe he was in the throes of addiction when he stated in the paperwork that he did not have a drug problem.
Hunter Biden was supposed to have avoided prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year. He was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.
Here’s a look at some key witnesses in the trial:
KATHLEEN BUHLE
One of the prosecutors’ first witnesses was Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, who filed for divorce in 2016 after more than 20 years of marriage. They have three children together. In divorce proceedings, she accused him of squandering their money on drugs, alcohol, strip clubs and prostitutes.
On the witness stand, Buhle described learning about Hunter Biden’s drug use when she found a pipe used to smoke crack cocaine in an ashtray on their porch in July 2015, weeks after Hunter’s brother Beau died from brain cancer.
When she confronted Hunter, he “acknowledged smoking crack,” she told jurors.
Buhle testified that she suspected that Hunter was using drugs even before she found the crack pipe, given that he earlier had been kicked out of the Navy after testing positive for cocaine.
“I was definitely worried, scared,” said Buhle, who was subpoenaed by prosecutors.
She also recounted searching the family’s car for drugs whenever her children were driving it. But she acknowledged under questioning from Hunter’s attorney that she never actually saw him using drugs.
HALLIE BIDEN
A key witness expected to take the stand for prosecutors is Beau’s widow, who had a romantic relationship with Hunter Biden after his brother’s death.
When their relationship became public in 2017, Joe Biden and his wife Jill said in a statement that the couple had their “full and complete support,” adding: “We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness.”
Hunter detailed their troubled romance in his memoir “Beautiful Things,” writing: “As much as we desperately thought we could be the answers to each other’s pain, we only caused each other more.”
Hallie Biden found the gun in Hunter Biden’s truck days after he bought it and threw it in a trash can near a grocery store in Wilmington. Hunter Biden told police in 2018 that she took the gun because she was concerned about his mental health, according to a police report.
Hunter got upset when he found out she threw the gun away, but it was no longer there when she went back to look for it. A man collecting recyclables found it and gave it to the police.
Jurors have already seen text messages between the pair that prosecutors are using to try to prove that Hunter Biden knew he was addicted to drugs when he said on the form he wasn’t.
In one late-night exchange shortly after he bought the gun, Hallie asked Hunter where he was. Hunter replied he was behind a baseball stadium in downtown Wilmington “waiting for a dealer.”
ZOE KESTAN
Kestan, another former romantic partner, was given immunity in exchange for her testimony to prosecutors.
She described meeting Hunter in December 2017 at a strip club in New York where she was working. During a private session with her and another girl, he pulled out a pipe and began smoking what she assumed was crack, she testified.
“He was incredibly charming and charismatic and friendly, and I felt really safe around him,” she said. “I remember after he had smoked it, nothing had changed. He was the same charming person.”
The two met up again a couple of weeks later in New York. She recounted staying at his hotel for five days, a period in which she says Hunter Biden smoked cracked perhaps every 20 minutes. At one point during their stay together, he asked her to go meet his drug dealer and bring him up to the room, she told jurors.
But Kestan acknowledged she had no contact with Hunter Biden in October 2018, the month he bought the gun.
JAMES BIDEN
The defense plans to call to the witness stand President Biden’s brother, who is close with Hunter Biden and helped his nephew through rehab stints in the past.
Outside the case, James Biden’s business dealings have made him a target of Republicans, who questioned both him and Hunter Biden in their stalled impeachment inquiry. Joe Biden told lawmakers during a voluntary private interview in February that the president “never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest” in his business ventures.
House Republicans on Wednesday accused Joe Biden and Hunter Biden of making false statements to Congress and sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department. The claim involving James Biden is over a statement he made about whether the president, while a private citizen, met with a former Biden family business partner.
James Biden’s lawyer called the Republicans’ move a “transparent and cynical attempt to distract and retaliate for Donald Trump’s recent criminal conviction.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said it was “nothing more than a desperate attempt by Republicans to twist Hunter’s testimony so they can distract from their failed impeachment inquiry and interfere with his trial.”
GORDON CLEVELAND
Cleveland sold Hunter Biden the .38 caliber revolver at a Wilmington gun shop in 2018.
Testifying for prosecutors, the former gun store clerk told jurors he stood next to Hunter Biden when he began to answer a series of questions on the federal form every person has to fill out when they buy a gun. Hunter checked a box saying he was purchasing the gun for himself, Cleveland said.
Another question asked whether the buyer was “an unlawful user of or addicted to” marijuana, stimulants, narcotics or any other controlled substance. Hunter Biden wrote “no,” Cleveland said.
He also testified that Hunter did not ask any questions or express any confusion about the question. Hunter Biden paid $900 in cash, telling Cleveland to keep the change — about $13.
Cleveland told jurors he watched Hunter sign the form, which includes a warning about the consequences of submitting false information.
Randall Chase, Michael Kunzelman, Claudia Lauer and Alanna Durkin Richer | Associated Press
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Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, other family members expected to take the stand in his federal gun trial
Federal prosecutors in Hunter Biden’s gun trial have spent hours showing jurors evidence of his drug problem, seeking to reveal through his own words and writing the depth of his addiction in order to show it was still going on when he bought a firearm and, they say, lied on a form to purchase it.Testimony was expected to continue Wednesday. Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle is expected to be among the witnesses; she was married to President Joe Biden’s son for roughly 20 years. They have three children, divorcing in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much to overcome, according to her memoir entitled, “If We Break” about the dissolution of their marriage.She’s one of 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 usage 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 the testimony is necessary to show Hunter Biden’s state of mind when he bought the gun.He has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of a gun in October 2018, 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 on 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.”“When the defendant filled out that form, he knew he was a drug addict,” and prosecutors don’t have to prove he was using the day he purchased the firearm, Hines said.First Lady Jill Biden and her daughter Ashley sat in the courtroom for much of Tuesday. Hunter Biden’s attorney argued that his client did not believe he was in the throes of addiction when he stated in the paperwork that he did not have a drug problem. In the short time that he had the gun, he did nothing with it, and the weapon was never even loaded, attorney Abbe Lowell said in his opening statement.“You will see that he is not guilty,” Lowell said.Lowell said the form asks whether you “are” a drug user. “It does not say ‘have you ever been,’” and he suggested the president’s son did not think of himself as someone with a drug problem when he purchased the gun. His state of mind should be considered at the time of the purchase, not later on, when, after he got sober, he wrote a memoir “Beautiful Things,” about some of his darkest moments. The jury heard lengthy audio excerpts from the book that traces his descent following the death of his brother in 2015 from cancer.The trial comes after a plea deal with prosecutors fell apart that would have resolved the gun case and a separate 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 deal as a sweetheart deal for the Democratic president’s son.The 12-person panel heard opening statements Tuesday, and testimony from an FBI agent who read aloud some of his 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.In one exchange with Beau’s widow Hallie on the day after he bought the gun, she wrote: “I called you 500 times in past 24 hours.” Hunter replied less than a minute later, informing her that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th street and Rodney.”“There’s my truth,” he added in a follow-up text.But during cross-examination, the FBI agent testified that Hunter Biden sent fewer messages about seeking drugs in October 2018, around the time when he purchased the gun, than in February 2019, a later period in which Lowell described his client as struggling significantly with addiction.Lowell also called into question the receipts for the rehab facility, asking whether the agent knew whether he had been treated for drugs or alcohol. She said she could not.His sister Ashley Biden, watching from the courtroom, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and eventually left.Attorneys said jurors would 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 Hallie Biden became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter.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. Both cases were to have been resolved through the deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a yearslong investigation into his business dealings.But Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the deal. The lawyers could not come to a resolution on her questions, and the deal fell apart. Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed a former U.S. attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, as a special counsel in August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.
WILMINGTON, Del. —Federal prosecutors in Hunter Biden’s gun trial have spent hours showing jurors evidence of his drug problem, seeking to reveal through his own words and writing the depth of his addiction in order to show it was still going on when he bought a firearm and, they say, lied on a form to purchase it.
Testimony was expected to continue Wednesday. Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle is expected to be among the witnesses; she was married to President Joe Biden’s son for roughly 20 years. They have three children, divorcing in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much to overcome, according to her memoir entitled, “If We Break” about the dissolution of their marriage.
She’s one of 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 usage 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 the testimony is necessary to show Hunter Biden’s state of mind when he bought the gun.
He has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of a gun in October 2018, 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 on 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.”
“When the defendant filled out that form, he knew he was a drug addict,” and prosecutors don’t have to prove he was using the day he purchased the firearm, Hines said.
First Lady Jill Biden and her daughter Ashley sat in the courtroom for much of Tuesday. Hunter Biden’s attorney argued that his client did not believe he was in the throes of addiction when he stated in the paperwork that he did not have a drug problem. In the short time that he had the gun, he did nothing with it, and the weapon was never even loaded, attorney Abbe Lowell said in his opening statement.
“You will see that he is not guilty,” Lowell said.
Lowell said the form asks whether you “are” a drug user. “It does not say ‘have you ever been,’” and he suggested the president’s son did not think of himself as someone with a drug problem when he purchased the gun.
His state of mind should be considered at the time of the purchase, not later on, when, after he got sober, he wrote a memoir “Beautiful Things,” about some of his darkest moments. The jury heard lengthy audio excerpts from the book that traces his descent following the death of his brother in 2015 from cancer.
The trial comes after a plea deal with prosecutors fell apart that would have resolved the gun case and a separate 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 deal as a sweetheart deal for the Democratic president’s son.
The 12-person panel heard opening statements Tuesday, and testimony from an FBI agent who read aloud some of his 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.
In one exchange with Beau’s widow Hallie on the day after he bought the gun, she wrote: “I called you 500 times in past 24 hours.” Hunter replied less than a minute later, informing her that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th street and Rodney.”
“There’s my truth,” he added in a follow-up text.
But during cross-examination, the FBI agent testified that Hunter Biden sent fewer messages about seeking drugs in October 2018, around the time when he purchased the gun, than in February 2019, a later period in which Lowell described his client as struggling significantly with addiction.
Lowell also called into question the receipts for the rehab facility, asking whether the agent knew whether he had been treated for drugs or alcohol. She said she could not.
His sister Ashley Biden, watching from the courtroom, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and eventually left.
Attorneys said jurors would 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 Hallie Biden became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter.
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. Both cases were to have been resolved through the deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a yearslong investigation into his business dealings.
But Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the deal. The lawyers could not come to a resolution on her questions, and the deal fell apart. Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed a former U.S. attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, as a special counsel in August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.
