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Jurors in Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges trial saw text messages between the president’s son and his onetime girlfriend – who is also his brother Beau Biden’s widow – Hallie Biden in which the two spoke about drug usage and the firearm at the center of the case.
On Tuesday, prosecutors submitted into evidence messages from 2018 where Biden berated Hallie for taking the firearm he purchased and disposing of it without his permission.
Biden called her “totally irresponsible” and “unhinged”, demanding she explain herself.
Prosecutors say the conversation was about the firearm Biden allegedly purchased unlawfully.
FBI agent Erika Jenson, the first witness of the trial, testified that she obtained the message from Biden’s laptop. She said she used Biden’s memoir Beautiful Things and data from his laptop to obtain background information on his drug usage.
Proceedings got off to a quick start in the morning with opening arguments and the introduction of a bevy of evidence in Jensen’s testimony. Abbe Lowell, Biden’s defense attorney, began cross-examination though it is expected to continue on Tuesday.
What to expect on day two of testimony
Proceedings will resume at the J Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware today where defense attorneys are expected to continue cross-examination of FBI agent Erika Jensen.
If the defense finishes cross-examination, prosecutors will move to introduce and question their next witness: Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle.
Ariana Baio5 June 2024 13:00
Prosecution and defense do not dispute Biden’s drug use
The prosecution and the defense in the Hunter Biden trial on federal gun charges agree on one thing: The president’s son struggled with substance use disorder.
What’s disputed is whether he was an active drug user when he bought a gun in Wilmington, Delaware on 12 October 2018.
The prosecution used extensive excerpts from Biden’s 2021 memoir Beautiful Things to argue that he was. The defense says he didn’t knowingly break the law as Biden didn’t consider himself an active user at the time.
Hunter Biden’s entourage exceeded a dozen people, including First Lady Jill Biden, half-sister Ashley Biden, and close friend and financial benefactor Kevin Morris.
Gustaf Kilander is reporting from Wilmington, Delaware
Gustaf Kilander5 June 2024 11:00
Prosecution relies heavily on Biden’s memoir
Prosecutors will rely on Hunter Biden’s memoir to make the case that he was a drug user when he bought a handgun at StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply store in Wilmington on 12 October 2018.
While Biden didn’t mention buying a firearm in his memoir, Beautiful Things, he did outline his drug use. Prosecutors have called the book “incriminating.”
The prosecution has suggested that they possibly plan on attempting to prove that Biden used illegal drugs by pointing to text message she sent at the time.
A number of those text messages came from an iCloud account, that prosecutors got access to via a subpoena, and others were sourced from a laptop that Biden is reported to have left at a repair shop and never returned to collect.
Biden and some in his orbit have stated for years that material from the laptop cannot be presumed to be authentic. Operatives backing former president Donald Trump have publicized material from the laptop as part of their attacks on President Biden.
Allies of Hunter Biden have said that some of the material shared from the laptop has been altered or distorted and they have also never confirmed that Hunter Biden ever dropped anything off at a repair shop.
Gustaf Kilander5 June 2024 09:00
Who is the judge in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial?
District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, 57, was initially assigned to the case, brought by special counsel David Weiss, back in June 2023.
At the time, the president’s son was expected to take a plea deal after striking an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to lesser tax charges and avoid the gun charges altogether.
But the federal judge was thrust into the spotlight when she suddenly rejected the deal in the 11th hour – calling it “not standard.”
Judge Noreika’s decision caused Biden’s cases to be split, leading to a three-count indictment on gun-related charges in Delaware and a nine-count indictment on federal tax charges in Los Angeles.
Now, the judge continues to preside over Biden’s case in Delaware where he is accused of lying about his previous drug use on a federal firearm purchasing form.
Ariana Baio5 June 2024 05:00
Hunter Biden’s tearful sister leaves court over drug use testimony
Hunter Biden’s sister, Ashley Biden, appeared to leave the courtroom in tears on Tuesday as jurors heard lengthy details about his prior drug use.
Ashley Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were among more than a dozen family members and friends who showed up to support the president’s son on the first day of his trial in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden is accused of lying on a federal firearm form about his prior drug use in order to unlawfully obtain a handgun in October 2018.
Ariana Baio and Gustaf Kilander report:
Ariana Baio5 June 2024 03:00
Defense points out Hallie Biden discarded the gun
During opening statements, defense lawyer Abbe Lowell told jurors that Biden never loaded the revolver he purchased and kept it in a locked box – insinuating he handled the firearm responsibly.
Rather it was Hallie Biden, Beau Biden’s widow whom Hunter dated briefly, who put the gun in a bag and discarded it into a dumpster behind a grocery store.
“Hunter put the gun in the locked box of the Ford Truck,” Lowell said. “Hallie put it in the bag.”
Ariana Baio5 June 2024 01:00
Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial has begun. This is what the case hinges on
Calling her “insane,” he asked her to say if she took the handgun that the defense said was located in a lockbox in Biden’s Ford pickup truck.
“This is no game. And you’re being totally irresponsible and unhinged,” Biden wrote.
“Did you take that from me, Hallie?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, I just want you to be safe, this is not safe,” she said.
A seemingly relaxed Biden was seen laughing with defense attorney Abbe Lowell before the proceedings began in the wooded courtroom in downtown Wilmington on Tuesday.
Gustaf Kilander5 June 2024 00:30
Biden had periods of sobriety between 2015 and 2019
FBI agent Erika Jensen testified under cross-examination that Hunter Biden did not use drugs, or crack cocaine, continuously during the period when he would have purchased the firearm.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell refused the prosecutor’s previous claim that Biden was in “active” addiction from 2015 to 2019 – something Biden mentions in his memoir.
But Jensen said she “didn’t get the sense” that was necessarily true and there were stretches of time Biden did not use crack cocaine.
Ariana Baio5 June 2024 00:00
Biden withdrew large sums of money while using crack cocaine in 2018
Hunter Biden withdrew more than $100,000 in cash between September, October and November 2018, according to bank statements that prosecutors showed jurors on Tuesday.
FBI agent Jensen testified that Biden withdrew large sums of money every day from three different bank accounts he was associated with: his personal account, Owasco LLC and another account associated with Owasco.
The withdrawals totaled $151,640.45 during that time.
Ariana Baio4 June 2024 23:00