In the courtroom, it was firmly declared that ‘no individual is exempt from the rule of law,’ as allegations were leveled against Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. Hunter is facing accusations for allegedly falsifying information about his drug habit while procuring firearms back in 2018. Asserting the compelling nature of the evidence, Prosecutor Leo Wise emphasized that Hunter Biden was grappling with a serious crack addiction when he made the affirmation on an obligatory firearms-purchase form that he wasn’t engaged in illegal drug use or addiction.
Prosecutor Leo Wise, in his concluding argument, evoked text messages allegedly illustrating Hunter Biden’s attempts to negotiate drug transactions before and after his gun acquisition. These messages formed a significant portion of the evidence presented. The content of these messages was deeply personal and intense, amplifying the case’s grim tone but deemed essential by Wise.
Despite facing three felony charges arising from his gun procurement in October 2018, a weapon he possessed for merely 11 days, Hunter Biden pleaded innocent. He has firmly positioned these charges as political tactics, with the Biden family accusing the Justice Department of succumbing to former President Donald Trump and his allies’ pressure to file this gun case, as well as additional independent tax charges, after their negotiation with prosecutors disintegrated last year.
Defense for Hunter Biden engaged three witnesses, including his daughter Naomi, in an attempt to establish that Hunter didn’t consider himself an ‘addict’ when completing the form. This case shines a spotlight on a tumultuous period in Hunter’s life following the tragic loss of his brother, Beau, back in 2015. His trials and tribulations with addiction before his recovery over five years ago are well known.
The defense stressed there is no hard evidence of Hunter Biden using drugs during the short span of 11 days in which the gun was in his possession. They emphasized that he had just finished a rehabilitation program weeks earlier. This comes amidst powerful courtroom testimonies provided by Hunter Biden’s former partners and excerpts from very personal text messages.
Pictures of Hunter Biden with a crack pipe and scarcely dressed, along with a video from his phone showing crack cocaine measured on a scale, have been scrutinized by jurors. His ex-wife and two previous girlfriends substantiated the prosecution’s account of Hunter’s habitual crack use, recounting their unsuccessful attempts to help him overcome his addiction. An associate, who had met Hunter in a strip club back in 2017, provided a detailed testimony of his frequent crack use while residing with him at a hotel.
Jurors witnessed firsthand the depth of Hunter Biden’s fall into addiction through audio excerpts from his 2018 memoir, ‘Beautiful Things.’ The memoir, written post-recovery, examines the period when the firearm was in his possession but fails to refer to it directly.
Critical to the prosecution’s narrative was the testimony from Beau’s widow, Hallie, who was involved in a brief, troubled relationship with Hunter post Beau’s unfortunate death. She came across the unloaded gun in Hunter’s car on Oct. 23, 2018 and, fearing potential consequences, discarded it in a grocery store garbage can in Wilmington.
A man unwittingly retrieved the gun from the trash can. Hallie testified to having not seen Hunter using drugs from the time of his return from a 2018 trip to California until she disposed of his gun. This timeline includes the day of the firearm purchase. However, text messages from Hunter sent to Hallie in October 2018 indicate him waiting for a dealer and using crack. One message was dispatched the day after he purchased the gun with another sent the following day.
The defense implied that at the time of the gun purchase, Hunter Biden was attempting to reform his life, having completed a decontamination and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018. The defense claimed that unrelenting stress and the subsequent upheaval, after the gun was thrown away, triggered his relapse into drug usage.
Fortifying the defense’s narrative, Naomi Biden testified, recounting her time visiting Hunter at a rehab center in California shortly before his gun purchase. Naomi recalled her father being ‘hopeful’ and felt he was making positive strides, sharing her pride in his determined efforts.
President Joe Biden verbally confirmed last week that he would respect the jury’s ruling and categorically ruled out issuing a presidential pardon for his son. Despite his international travel commitments, including a scheduled attendance at the Group of Seven leaders conference in Italy, President Biden managed to tune in to the ongoing proceedings from his home.
Initially, it appeared that Hunter Biden could evade prosecution entirely in the gun case, thanks to an agreement with prosecutors. However, doubts raised by the presiding judge, nominated by Trump, led to the deal’s failure. Consequently, Hunter Biden was charged on three gun-related felony counts.
Hunter Biden also stares down a separate court proceeding set for September, centering on allegations of felony tax evasion involving the non-payment of an estimated $1.4 million over four years. If the verdict goes against him in the gun case, he could potentially face a prison sentence of up to 25 years.
It remains unclear if the judge would contemplate prison time for him, given this would be his first offense. Though first-time offenders typically do not served the maximum time, and with the varying factors in play, it remains to be seen what the final verdict will be.
