Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s son Beau Biden, could be called as a witness on Thursday in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial, where she would likely testify that she found and discarded the gun at the center of the charges.
The prosecution said late Wednesday it had six more witnesses and plans on resting its case Thursday. Hallie Biden was on the initial witness list prosecutors presented to jurors during opening statements, although she wasn’t called to the stand on Wednesday.
Hallie Biden’s appearance would follow testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, and Zoe Kasten, who was romantically involved with Hunter Biden from around 2017 to 2018. Buhle testified that while they were still married she confronted Hunter Biden after she found a “crack pipe” and said that, although she never saw him use drugs, he confirmed his drug use to her.
Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from his alleged purchase of a revolver in October 2018. Two of the charges are related to accusations that he made false statements on a federal gun form about his drug use, certifying he was not a user of or addicted to any controlled substance during a period when prosecutors allege he was addicted to crack cocaine. The other charge is for allegedly owning the gun unlawfully. He was allegedly in possession of the gun for 11 days before Hallie Biden discarded the weapon.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Tuesday in opening statements that many addicts are in “denial” about their drug use, indicating that his client did not intend to lie on the form. Prosecutor Derek Hines, meanwhile, in his opening statement noted that “addiction may not be a choice, but lying and buying a gun is a choice.”
Gordon Cleveland, the man who sold Hunter Biden the gun, also testified on Wednesday, saying that Hunter Biden did not seem confused by the form. Lowell pressed Gordon on the condition of the form at the center of the case and the rules required for any changes made after submission.
Lowell sought earlier Wednesday to cast doubt on the authenticity of personal text messages allegedly taken from Hunter Biden’s personal devices. Under questioning from Lowell, FBI special agent Erika Jensen said she could not verify the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop admitted into evidence were not tampered with before law enforcement collected it from a repair shop.
Prosecutors had called Jensen to the stand to authenticate the messages, and she confirmed they had been taken from Hunter Biden’s laptop. They also played passages from the audiobook of Hunter Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he detailed some of his drug use.
First lady Jill Biden was again in the courtroom Wednesday morning, as she was on Monday and Tuesday, although she departed before Buhle took the stand.
President Biden is not attending the trial — he is currently in France for events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The first lady is expected to meet him in Europe.
