Opening statements in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial concluded Tuesday in Wilmington, Del., where President Biden’s 54-year-old son faces three charges over whether he lied about his crack addiction while applying six years ago to to buy a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege that Hunter Biden falsely claimed in the filing that he was not a drug user and had the gun illegally in his possession for 11 days. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine if found guilty of all three charges.
Jury selection ended Monday with 12 jurors and four alternates after they were questioned about their relationships with people struggling with addiction.
Hunter Biden’s trial comes just days after former President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 charges of falsifying corporate records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star whose alleged affair with him threatened to torpedo his 2016 election campaign.
This is what happened in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said their case has nothing to do with drug addiction — or his name
In his opening statement, prosecutor Derek Hines told the jury that Hunter Biden is on trial because he lied about his drug use when he applied to buy a gun — not because he was a drug addict and certainly not because he is the president’s son .
“We are here because of the defendant’s lies and choices,” Hines said. “No one should lie, not even Hunter Biden.
“Addiction may not be a choice, but lying and buying a gun is a choice,” Hines added. “We wouldn’t be here today if he was just a drug addict.”
The jury was shown a photo of Hunter Biden’s Colt revolver and the “hollow point” ammunition he purchased in 2018. In court filings, Hunter Biden’s lawyers said he never used or loaded the gun during the 11 days he had it. before his then-girlfriend Hailie Biden threw it away.
The jury then heard portions of an audiobook Hunter Biden recorded for his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he described his addiction to crack.
Hunter Biden did not knowingly break the law, his lawyer said
In his opening statement, attorney Abbe Lowell argued that Hunter Biden did not knowingly break the law when he omitted drug use information from the firearms application.
Lowell told the jury that Biden took the gun out of a locked box only once in the 11 days between the time he bought it and the time his girlfriend threw it in a trash can.
Hunter Biden later told police he had purchased the gun for target practice but had not yet shot it.
“The gun was never loaded. It was never carried around,” Lowell said.
Lowell also said Hunter Biden struggled with addiction “like literally millions of people in this country.”
Prosecutors called an FBI agent as their first witness
After opening statements, prosecutors called their first witness: Erika Jensen, an FBI special agent who is expected to testify about what she knows about Hunter Biden’s drug abuse from 2015 to 2019.
While Jensen was on the stand, prosecutors played more audio clips from Hunter Biden’s memoir, in which he details his four-year addiction to crack cocaine.
Prosecutors allege Hunter Biden was aware he was addicted when he said the opposite in his federal gun application in 2018.
One juror was dismissed – and another arrived late
One juror was dismissed before opening arguments on Tuesday after sending an overnight email explaining she lives an hour away and is unemployed.
“So we’ve lost a juror,” Judge Maryellen Noreika announced as she entered the courtroom.
According to Noreika, the juror did not realize that she was expected to be in the courthouse every day.
Another juror was late to court about an hour, delaying Tuesday’s opening statements.
First lady Jill Biden was in court to support Hunter
First lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and sister, Ashley Biden, were in court to support him.
President Biden does not plan to attend the trial, but did release a rare statement on the case on Monday.
“I’m the president, but I’m also a father,” Biden said. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.”
