WILMINGTON, Del. – Three new witnesses took the stand Wednesday in Hunter Biden’s gun trial, recalling the defendant’s testimony in vivid colors. becomes an addictionIn late 2018, a year in which his crack cocaine use spiraled out of control prevented attempts to enter rehab and the purchase of a fateful firearm.
First Lady Jill Biden, who joined Biden on the third day; his wife, Melissa Cohen-Baden; close ally Kevin Morris; and other long-term friends and family members.
Hunter Biden testified about how he left his family’s home after discovering his ex-wife was using drugs, and watched closely as an ex-girlfriend smoked and talked “every 20 minutes.” about the pain and deception he felt when he began to disappear into the night. Biden’s missing gun was also shown to the jury.
David WeissThe Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, who was named special counsel to investigate Biden by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year, has set his sights on witnesses and prosecutors, sometimes turning his gaze to Biden’s lead defense attorney, Abe Lowell, and to Biden’s ranks. supporters filling the ranks behind him.
That evening, Biden walked into a downtown Wilmington dining hall with his wife in a light blue denim shirt. A handful of co-workers and patrons eagerly approached him for photos and kind words. Secret Service agents walked around the room as Biden examined the proposals.
More friends soon arrived, including Rob Buccini and Kevin Morris, who were in court with Biden every day.
After spending her day in court closely watching the proceedings, Cohen-Biden struck a lighter mood, called her husband and chatted with staff.
“There’s Naomi,” Biden’s wife said, referring to Biden’s daughter with Buhle. Dressed in sweatpants and a gray sweater, Cohen-Baden walked to a high table in the corner where Biden was joined by two police officers and the rest of the group.
Soon others entered.
Buccini, a longtime friend of Biden’s, addressed Lowell as “Abbe,” while another friend approached Lowell’s legal team, tricked David Kolansky into saying he didn’t recognize the group, which was dressed in sweatshirts and other athletic clothing.
Most people didn’t notice or care about Biden, though when he did, he exuded the laid-back charm that his ex-girlfriend said attracted her, even as Biden disappointed her by spending the night on drugs.
The easy-going nature of Biden and his entourage was on display throughout the trial, walking in and out of the courtroom with reporters, and even having an ally call a journalist from the middle of the courtroom for a private chat as the proceedings continued Tuesday. . Biden gave a friendly tap twice to a different reporter on the arm on his way out during his lunch break.
Later, the defendant appeared to make eye contact with his ex-girlfriend as she left the witness stand, and Cohen-Baden flashed a soft smile as she walked by.
Judge Maryellen Norieka is a speaker she worries could compromise the integrity of the jury.
During a sidebar, Norieka said three of the jurors ran into Cohen-Baden in the restroom during a break that morning and briefly crossed paths. Norieka instructed his team not to leave the jury unaccompanied.
Here’s what you missed on Day 3:
Witnesses
Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, says she never saw him use drugs, but after finding a crack pipe in his Washington, D.C. home in 2015, he admitted he began smoking the drug. .
Buhle testified that she continued to find drug paraphernalia and even drug residue in the months that followed, including in her then-husband’s car, which she periodically cleaned to prevent her children from driving on drugs when they borrowed money. In his testimony, he said that he used drugs in 2018.
Buhle and Biden’s relationship began to falter amid his drug use, and he later hinted at a vindictive streak after the divorce, when he refused to remove her phone number from the family phone plan and began using the number himself.
Later, Biden’s girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, took the stand and recounted in detail Biden’s nonstop crack use from late 2017 to September 2018, from when the two met, to dinner at Lucien and Fannelli’s Cafe. Los Angeles Chateau Marmont, Airbnb and other hotel stays for more than a month.
Attempts to get off the drug, including experimental treatment with frog venom, were unsuccessful, Chestnut said, and he watched as he began to seek out powder cocaine and prepare himself for crack when he lost faith in his dealer. He explained to Biden a system that gave the dealer access to his bank account without handing over his debit card, which Biden sometimes used with him to give him cash.
Chestnut poignantly spoke of how his feelings for Biden grew over time. He hoped to get rid of drugs and tried to help him.
But he also described long stretches where Biden appeared intent on diving deeper into addiction. The two have been romantically linked for much of 2018, spending time together in New York and Los Angeles, and later in Massachusetts.
In late 2018, Biden was smoking when Chestnut went to stay with him in Newburyport while he received experimental treatment for depression.
Although Kestan said he did not use crack, he testified that he helped Biden find drugs in Providence, Rhode Island, where he graduated from art school several years ago. Lowell then delved into the details of his immunity deal with prosecutors.
“You don’t have immunity because you’re worried about lying, do you? It’s because you say things that break the law that you give prosecutors immunity, right?” Lowell said.
During sidebars that could not be heard by the jury, special counsel prosecutor Leo Wise said that was a question Kestan didn’t have to answer.
“I don’t know if he needed it or if he asked for exposure, why,” Wise said.
Like Buhle, Kestan was subpoenaed to testify.
The final witness was the gun dealer who sold Biden the gun at the center of the case and who he said was not a drug user, who witnessed Biden fill out a form from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The defense team questioned the integrity of the uniform and its retention after Biden retrieved the gun, but Officer Gordon Cleveland gave a detailed account of the operation and said he witnessed Biden filling it out.
Beau Biden’s widow and on-again, off-again girlfriend Hallie Biden will take the witness stand Thursday, one of six remaining witnesses the prosecution plans to call before resting its case later in the day, special assistant counsel Derek Hines said Wednesday.
Sow doubt
Proving whether Biden was a drug user when he bought the gun is difficult, and the defense tried to inject enough reasonable doubt into the government’s description of the case to sway the jury.
Lowell continued to examine the prosecution’s allegations that Biden knowingly lied when he bought the firearm in October 2018 and checked a box to say he was not a drug user, questioning the administration of the form before and after filling it out.
While Chestnut recounted the weeks and months of Biden’s drug use in excruciating detail, he failed to offer judgment on the most important time frame: the time between Biden’s October 12 purchase and Hallie Biden’s discovery of the gun on October 23.
Earlier that day, jurors recorded FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen talking about the government’s handling of the gun uniform, ultimately stating that she had no direct knowledge of how it was completed by Biden. Questioned by Lowell, Jensen said it had been months since the government obtained Biden’s laptop after he left it at a Wilmington repair shop.
If convicted, the president’s son faces up to 25 years in prison.