WILMINGTON, Delaware — Jury deliberations began Monday in the federal criminal trial of Hunter Biden after prosecutors laid out what they described as “overwhelming” evidence against the president’s son as he faced gun charges.
The panel deliberated for about an hour in the late afternoon before being sent home for the day.
Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s attorney, urged the jury to find his client innocent, arguing that prosecutors had offered only “speculation or suspicion” — and not hard evidence — that his client used drugs in the days when he bought a Colt. Cobra revolver at a gun shop in Wilmington.
Prosecutor Leo Wise claimed there was a mountain of evidence that he was an active addict at the time, including in Hunter Biden’s own book.
“The evidence was personal, ugly and overwhelming,” Wise told the jury, recounting the evidence that special prosecutor David Weiss had compiled since the trial began last week.
Wise also appeared to acknowledge members of the Biden family who appeared in the courtroom, including first lady Jill Biden, who was present again Monday.
“People sitting in the stands are not evidence,” he said, and while jurors may recognize some attendees from the news or community, “respectfully that doesn’t matter.”
“No one is above the law,” he said, adding that the evidence showed Hunter Biden broke the law when he claimed he was not a drug user when he bought a gun from a gun shop in Delaware in 2018.
The closings began after Lowell rested his case in the morning without calling his client to the witness stand. Lowell had said Friday that a decision would be made on whether his client would testify this weekend.
Hunter Biden is charged in federal court in Wilmington with three felonies related to possessing a firearm while taking narcotics, and he has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Hunter Biden lied when he filled out a federal form to purchase the gun in October 2018, claiming he was not a drug user or addict. Lowell has suggested that his client did not “knowingly” deceive anyone because he did not consider himself a drug addict or drug user at the time.
Wise returned to the claim in his closing.
“He knew he was using drugs, the evidence shows that,” he said, referring to Hunter Biden’s text messages about drug use and large cash withdrawals during that period.
“We see in these messages that he was buying drugs and telling other people he was using drugs,” Wise said. He also recounted testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and two former romantic partners about his frequent crack use. One, Zoe Kestan, testified that at times he smoked crack every 20 minutes. Wise also pointed to excerpts from Hunter Biden’s memoir, in which he acknowledged his battle with drug addiction.
Hunter Biden was a “habitual drug user” from 2015 to 2019, Wise said, and was so when he bought the gun.
Lowell told jurors in his closing argument that Hunter Biden’s writing after admitting he was addicted in his book, which was published in 2021, does not mean he knew he was addicted during the period he described from 2015 to 2019.
He also said it was “dishonest” for prosecutors to use his client’s words about addiction out of context.
“Hunter has not asked anyone to apologize or forgive him for his mistakes,” Lowell said.
Prosecutors, he argued, had not met their burden to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. “With this very high burden, it is time to end this case,” he said. He ended his closing argument by reading a passage from Hunter Biden’s book. “Remembering all those things feels like a terrible betrayal of where I am today,” Lowell said, quoting his client. “They evoke feelings of shame and guilt.”
During his rebuttal argument, prosecutor Derek Hines said Hunter Biden chose to record an audiobook about his behavior and chose to lie about his drug use on the federal weapons form. He accused Lowell of pushing a “fictional narrative” and said Hunter Biden was well aware he was addicted.
“It may seem obvious, but someone who has a crack pipe in their mouth every 15 minutes knows they’re addicted,” Hines says.
The jury began deliberating around 3:30 PM ET.
Lowell had rested the defense around 10:30 a.m. ET.
Prosecutors then called FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen back to the stand for a brief rebuttal statement. Jensen was the first prosecution witness called in the case, testifying about information found on Hunter Biden’s computer, phone and tablet.
She was asked Monday about messages Hunter Biden sent Hallie Biden in the period surrounding the gun purchase, including one in which he indicated he was meeting with a drug dealer. Lowell had suggested that his client lied about his location because he did not want to see Hallie Biden, his brother Beau’s widow. Jensen testified that geolocation data indicated that Hunter Biden was physically in the areas where he told Hallie Biden he was.
Lowell insisted those lyrics were “funny.”
Hallie Biden was romantically involved with Hunter Biden around the time he bought the gun — years after her husband’s death — and she testified last week about getting rid of the gun after discovering it in his car.
After Jensen finished testifying, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika read her instructions to jurors on what to keep in mind as they begin deliberating.
The trial began on June 3, just days after former President Donald Trump ran against him President Joe Bidenwas convicted in New York state court of falsifying company records.
In addition to Jill Biden, the president’s brother James Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens were also in court for the shutdown. James Biden was mentioned as a possible defense witness but was not called to the stand.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
