Hunter Biden gun trial: 'Politics never came into play,' juror says after guilty verdict
The president's son was convicted of unlawfully purchasing a firearm.
President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty on three felony counts related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.
The younger Biden, who pleaded not guilty last October after being indicted by special counsel David Weiss, denied the charges. The son of a sitting president had never before faced a criminal trial.
The trial came on the heels of former President Donald Trump's conviction on felony charges related to a hush money payment made to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
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Defense shows only 2 October texts referenced drugs
Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, questioned FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop, which prosecutors entered into evidence yesterday, asking her on cross-examination if she had done an "analysis" of whether "data" or "content" of the laptop was "tampered with, added to, or subtracted" during the months that passed between when Hunter Biden dropped off the device for service in April of 2019 and when the FBI obtained it in December 2019.
Jensen said she had not.
Lowell also took aim at the numerous text messages prosecutors have presented as evidence of Hunter Biden's drug addiction in 2018 and 2019.
Lowell showed that only two messages among the several alluding to drug use, drug paraphernalia, and drug purchases occurred during October of 2018 -- the period during which Hunter Bidden procured the firearm. The rest were either other months before the incident or months afterward, Lowell showed.
"You don't see any references … to baby powder?" Lowell asked Jensen, before ticking through other drug terms that appeared in the messages earlier in 2018 or later in 2019, including "chore boy" and "party favors."
Each time, Jensen replied "No."
Lowell also questioned Jensen about two messages Hunter Biden sent around the time of his gun purchase that did allude to drug use, one of them referring to an alleged drug dealer named "Mookie" and other referencing "smoking crack on a car" in Wilmington. Lowell sought to establish that Jensen had no firsthand knowledge about the contents of the messages.
"Do you know if there is a person named Mookie?" Lowell asked.
"No," Jensen replied.
"Do you know if he was on a car smoking crack?" Lowell asked later, referring to Hunter Biden.
"No," Jensen said.
Lowell subsequently ended his cross-examination of Jensen, and prosecutors undertook their redirect examination.
Defense argues Hunter Biden was abusing alcohol, not drugs
On cross-examination, defense attorney Abbe Lowell asked FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen about the timeline of the text messages, photos, and chapters of Hunter Biden's memoir to argue that his client was not using drugs during the time of the gun purchase.
Lowell showed the jury bank statements that chronicled a series of alcohol purchases made by Hunter Biden in the days leading up to the gun purchase and after, suggesting that he was consuming alcohol and not recreational drugs.
Jensen also testified that several of the photos prosecutors showed the jury of drug substances and what appeared to be a crack pipe were taken months after the gun purchase.
FBI agent returns to stand for cross-examination
FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, the trial's first witness, resumed her testimony after proceedings got underway this morning.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell resumed his cross-examination.
Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden's one-time romantic partner, could take the stand after Jensen.
Prosecutors also said they also intend to call Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, as well as Zoe Kestan, another woman with whom Hunter Biden had a romantic relationship.
Hunter Biden arrives at courthouse
Hunter Biden has arrived at the Wilmington courthouse for Day 3 of his federal gun trial.
As on previous days, he was accompanied by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden.
Hunter Biden 'chose to lie,' prosecutor tells jury
Government prosecutors told jurors in the trial's opening statements that they should make "no distinction for Hunter Biden or anybody else" as they weigh the gun case against the president's son.
Hunter Biden "chose to lie," prosecutor Derek Hines said, laying out the case that the defendant purchased a gun while knowing he was an addict and drug user.
Hines said Hunter Biden bought the firearm from a gun seller who will testify as a witness that the younger Biden filled out form 4473 -- consenting to a federal background check -- and certified that he understood the form. The prosecution said it will show Hunter Biden "bought a gun and lied during a background check."
The man who sold Hunter Biden the gun will testify that he watched the defendant fill out the form.
The gun was then "taken by someone concerned he had a gun. That person was Halle Biden," Hines said, referring to Hunter Biden's romantic partner at the time.
Halle Biden disposed of the gun in a dumpster, where it was retrieved by a man who will also be a witness called by the government.
"The police were called" when Halle Biden went to retrieve the gun, Hines said.
Hines, in his opening, said evidence will show that "Hunter Biden knew he was a drug user and a drug addict" when he filled out the form.
Hines cited Hunter Biden's memoir, "Beautiful Things," in which he wrote he had a "superpower of buying crack anywhere, anytime."
In text messages presented by the prosecution, Hunter Biden acknowledged, "I am an addict."