Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend testified Wednesday in his gun trial about finding his crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia, and jurors saw photos of the prez’s son bare-chested in a bubble bath and heard about his visit to a strip club.
As first lady Jill Biden sat in the front row, the courtroom grew quiet when Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter for 20 years, walked in.She testified that she discovered her husband was using drugs when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on July 3, 2015, a day after their anniversary. When she asked him, “he acknowledged smoking crack,” she said. “I was definitely worried, scared,” said Buhle, who divorced him in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much.
The trial, about whether he lied on a gun purchase form in Oct 2018 when he said he wasn’t using drugs, has become a highly personal and detailed tour of the mistakes and drug use of Hunter, whose struggles have been tabloid fodder for years and were used publicly by Republicans, including for an impeachment bid against US prez.
The proceedings are unfolding as the 2024 election looms, and allies worry about the toll it will take on Prez Biden. Hunter has been charged with three felonies: Lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days. Prosecutors have said Hunter was a habitual user, unable to stay clean for long and had been kicked out of the US navy after testing positive for cocaine.
Prosecutors also called Zoe Kestan, who testified about meeting Hunter in 2017 at a strip club where she worked. She described Hunter’s drug-fuelled lifestyle during 2018, including when they stayed at an expensive hotel for a month. Kestan said he was often smoking crack about every 20 minutes. The prosecution showed photos of him with crack pipes, including one of him in a soapy bathtub. But she conceded she didn’t see Hunter using drugs during the month when he bought the gun because the two were estranged at that time. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in jail, though first-time offenders get a far more lenient punishment.
Brother’s widow details tossing the revolver
The widow of Hunter Biden’s brother told jurors in his federal gun trial on Thursday about the moment she found the revolver in his truck, describing how she put it into a leather pouch, stuffed it into a shopping bag and tossed it in a trash can outside a market near her home. “I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them,” Hallie Bidentestified about finding the gun and ammunition in Oct 2018.
“I didn’t want him to hurt himself, and I didn’t want my kids to find it and hurt themselves.” The purchase of the Colt revolver by Hunter — and Hallie’s frenzied disposal of it — are the fulcrum of the case against him. Prosecutors say the prez’s son was in the throes of a heavy crack addiction when he bought the gun. Hallie, who had a brief romantic relationship with Hunter after Beau Biden died, said she considered hiding the gun but thought her kids might find it, so she decided to throw it away. “I realise it was a stupid idea now.” Asked by the prosecutor if Hunter was using drugs around then, she said, “He could have been.”
(With AP/Reuters inputs)
As first lady Jill Biden sat in the front row, the courtroom grew quiet when Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter for 20 years, walked in.She testified that she discovered her husband was using drugs when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on July 3, 2015, a day after their anniversary. When she asked him, “he acknowledged smoking crack,” she said. “I was definitely worried, scared,” said Buhle, who divorced him in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much.
The trial, about whether he lied on a gun purchase form in Oct 2018 when he said he wasn’t using drugs, has become a highly personal and detailed tour of the mistakes and drug use of Hunter, whose struggles have been tabloid fodder for years and were used publicly by Republicans, including for an impeachment bid against US prez.
The proceedings are unfolding as the 2024 election looms, and allies worry about the toll it will take on Prez Biden. Hunter has been charged with three felonies: Lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days. Prosecutors have said Hunter was a habitual user, unable to stay clean for long and had been kicked out of the US navy after testing positive for cocaine.
Prosecutors also called Zoe Kestan, who testified about meeting Hunter in 2017 at a strip club where she worked. She described Hunter’s drug-fuelled lifestyle during 2018, including when they stayed at an expensive hotel for a month. Kestan said he was often smoking crack about every 20 minutes. The prosecution showed photos of him with crack pipes, including one of him in a soapy bathtub. But she conceded she didn’t see Hunter using drugs during the month when he bought the gun because the two were estranged at that time. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in jail, though first-time offenders get a far more lenient punishment.
Brother’s widow details tossing the revolver
The widow of Hunter Biden’s brother told jurors in his federal gun trial on Thursday about the moment she found the revolver in his truck, describing how she put it into a leather pouch, stuffed it into a shopping bag and tossed it in a trash can outside a market near her home. “I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them,” Hallie Bidentestified about finding the gun and ammunition in Oct 2018.
“I didn’t want him to hurt himself, and I didn’t want my kids to find it and hurt themselves.” The purchase of the Colt revolver by Hunter — and Hallie’s frenzied disposal of it — are the fulcrum of the case against him. Prosecutors say the prez’s son was in the throes of a heavy crack addiction when he bought the gun. Hallie, who had a brief romantic relationship with Hunter after Beau Biden died, said she considered hiding the gun but thought her kids might find it, so she decided to throw it away. “I realise it was a stupid idea now.” Asked by the prosecutor if Hunter was using drugs around then, she said, “He could have been.”
(With AP/Reuters inputs)