WILMINGTON, Delaware — Federal prosecutors expect to rest their case against Hunter Biden on Friday morning after they call two final witnesses to the stand to testify in the first son’s gun trial.
They told Judge Maryellen Noreika at the conclusion of court proceedings on Thursday that the witnesses would be an FBI chemist and a Drug Enforcement Administration official.
Prosecutors previously indicated the chemist would speak about lab results that showed cocaine on a pouch belonging to Biden and the DEA witness would decipher Biden’s text messages about alleged drug transactions for the jury.
Abbe Lowell, the prominent white-collar attorney leading Biden’s defense, said he planned to call two or three witnesses to the stand and that he expects the defense to rest its case by the end of the day on Monday.
Once the defense presents its case, attorneys typically delivery closing statements, then the judge gives jurors instructions and directs them to deliberate. Deliberations could take hours or sometimes days, if needed. Noreika estimated at the start of the trial that it could last up to two weeks, meaning it remains roughly on schedule at this stage.
The trial has stretched four days so far and involved prosecutors examining eight witnesses, including Biden’s ex-wife, two ex-girlfriends, and the man who sold Biden the gun for which he is now being prosecuted.
Day four, which concluded Thursday, marked the most personal day yet for Biden in the trial. Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden’s late brother, Beau, testified about her tumultuous relationship with the first son, saying she and Hunter Biden became romantically involved around the end of 2015, shortly after her husband died.
She provided a detailed chronology of Hunter Biden’s crack cocaine use, which she said became more frequent in 2017 and 2018.
Special counsel David Weiss has alleged the first son lied on a federal form about his drug use on Oct. 12, 2018, so that he could purchase a revolver and that he then illegally retained the firearm for several days.
Hallie Biden testified that she discovered the gun and ammunition in the first son’s truck 11 days after he purchased it and that she “panicked” and threw it away in a grocery store trash bin. She said she also recalled finding crack cocaine residue and drug paraphernalia in the truck along with the gun.
On cross-examination, Lowell grilled her on specific details about the sequence of events that occurred the morning she found the gun, highlighting how her memory of the morning was hazy. Lowell acknowledged that it must have been a “traumatic” day for her.
Prosecutors have also spoken with gun salesman Gordon Cleveland, Hunter Biden’s former New York girlfriend Zoe Kestan, his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, three law enforcement officials, and an elderly man who said he came across the first son’s revolver while collecting recyclables from trash bins at the grocery store.
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Hunter Biden is required to appear in court every day. He has appeared attentive throughout the proceedings while his supporters, including his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, sit behind him. First lady Jill Biden was present for the first three days but absent Thursday amid D-Day memorial events.
Lowell said Hunter Biden has not decided if he will testify in his own defense, though it is rare for criminal defendants to do so.
