Hunter Biden found guilty of illegally owning gun, lying about drug use

The trial centred on a Cobra Colt .38 handgun that Hunter purchased in October 2018. Prosecutors say this violated federal law because he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time, alleging that he lied when he answered ‘No’ on a federal background check form certifying that he was not using drugs.

To mount their case, they called three of Hunter Biden’s former partners as witnesses: his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, who testified about finding a crack pipe in an ashtray on their porch in 2015; his former girlfriend Zoe Kestan, who met him while working as a dancer at a Manhattan gentleman’s club and at one point saw him smoke crack “every 20 minutes”; and his ex-lover Hallie Biden – Beau’s widow – who disposed of the gun in 2018.

An audiobook of Hunter’s memoir, in which he narrated his descent into drug addiction, was also played to the jury, while texts and photos were also shown.

The defence, meanwhile, argued there was no direct evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was using the drug when he got the firearm. They had also argued he was in a “deep state of denial” about his drug use at the time.

While the president was overseas for much of the trial and has deliberately remained at arms length from it, First Lady Jill Biden has led the charge in court, appearing with other members of Delaware’s most famous family, including the president’s brother James, his sister Valerie, Hunter’s daughter Naomi (who was also a witness), and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden.

At one point she crossed the Atlantic four times to travel from D-Day commemorations and a state dinner in France to be by her step-son’s side.

The show of strength stood in contrast to Trump’s trial, in which his wife Melania and favourite child Ivanka were notably absent, and his son Eric only appeared a few weeks into case, followed days later by his other adult children, Don Jnr and Tiffany Trump.

The presence of the Biden family and their Secret Service security detail was unavoidable for jurors – so much so, that in closing arguments on Monday, prosecutor Leo Wise told them that they should draw no inference from it.

“People sitting in the gallery are not evidence. You may recognise them from the news … but respectfully, none of that matters,” he said.

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Hunter reportedly sat with his arms folded while the verdict was read out. He later exited the court holding hands with his wife and the First Lady but did not comment to the media.

The case was brought by Department of Justice special counsel David Weiss. Initially, a plea deal was reached, in which Hunter was meant to plead guilty to the charges against him in exchange for the matter being treated as a diversion case. That would have allowed him to avoid prosecution provided he remained drug-free for 24 months and agreed never to own a firearm again.

However, the deal unravelled at the last minute after the judge raised concerns about its scope, resulting in a not-guilty plea. He has now been convicted on all three charges against him.