Defense expected to call more witnesses

WILMINGTON, Del. (NewsNation) — After a week of emotional testimony, the federal trial of President Joe Biden’s son enters its final phase starting Monday. The defense must decide whether to call at least one more witness, potentially including Hunter Biden.

On Friday, the defense did not rule out calling another witness, but it was not clear who that might be. Hunter Biden’s lawyers had previously said they planned to call the president’s brother, James Biden, as a witness.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors will call rebuttal witnesses before the case goes to closing arguments and then to the jury.

Hunter Biden faces three felonies stemming from the purchase of a firearm in 2018, when he was, according to his memoirs, at the height of his crack addiction.

This is the first of two trials Hunter Biden faces amid his father’s re-election campaign. Biden said last week that he would accept the jury’s verdict and ruled out pardoning his son.

Defense: No proof that Hunter Biden used drugs while carrying a gun

Hunter Biden purchased a gun in October 2018, months before his father announced his candidacy for president.

Prosecutors argue that Hunter Biden lied when he swore he was not a drug user on a form he filled out at the gun store. He had the gun for about 11 days before it was thrown in a trash can.

Hunter Biden said he has been sober since 2019, but his lawyers said he did not consider himself an “addict” when he filled out the form.

The case highlighted a turbulent time in Hunter Biden’s life following the death of his brother Beau Biden in 2015.

Hunter Biden’s struggle with substance addiction before becoming sober more than five years ago is well documented. But defense attorneys argue there is no evidence that Hunter Biden used drugs in the 11 days he owned the gun. He had completed a rehabilitation program weeks earlier.

Who has testified so far?

Jurors heard emotional and splashy testimony from Hunter Biden former romantic partners, and they read personal text messages. They saw photos of Hunter Biden holding a crack pipe and partially clothed, and phone videos of him showing crack weighed on a scale.

Your ex-wife and two ex-girlfriends testified before prosecutors about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. One woman, who met Hunter Biden in 2017 at a strip club where she worked, described him smoking crack cocaine every 20 minutes or so while she stayed with him at a hotel.

Hunter Biden has not given a statement and it is unclear whether he will. But jurors heard him describe in detail his descent into addiction through audio clips played in his courtroom. 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things.” The book, written after he became sober, covers the period he had the gun but does not mention it specifically.

A key witness for prosecutors is Beau Biden’s widow, Hallie, who had a brief relationship with Hunter after her brother died of brain cancer. She found the gun unloaded in Hunter Biden’s truck on Oct. 23, 2018, panicked and threw it into a trash can at a supermarket in Wilmington, where a man inadvertently retrieved it from the trash.

Hunter Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden, took the stand on the defense Friday, telling jurors about visiting her father while he was in a California rehab center weeks before he bought the gun. She told jurors he seemed “hopeful” and was improving, and said she was proud of him. When she was excused from the stand, she paused to hug her father before leaving the courtroom.

Hunter Biden Accusations

Hunter Biden faces three felonies stemming from the purchase of a firearm in 2018, when he was, according to his memoirs, at the height of his crack addiction. He has pleaded not guilty and argued that he is being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department after Republicans condemned a now-defunct plea deal as special treatment for the Democratic president’s son.

If convicted in the gun case, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders won’t get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

The trial comes after Donald Trump, the Republicans’ presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City. A jury found the former president guilty of a scheme to cover up a secret payment to a porn star to prevent damage to his 2016 presidential campaign. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the criminal court has taken center stage. of attention during the 2024 campaign.

Hunter Biden also faces a separate trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes. Both cases were supposed to be resolved through a collapsed plea deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a years-long investigation into his dealings.

NewsNation digital producer Devan Markham and the Associated Press contributed to this report.