WILMINGTON, Del. — Three new witnesses took the stand Wednesday in Hunter Biden’s gun trial, vividly recounting the defendant’s descent into addiction, failed attempts to enter rehab and the purchase ... View MoreWILMINGTON, Del. — Three new witnesses took the stand Wednesday in Hunter Biden’s gun trial, vividly recounting the defendant’s descent into addiction, failed attempts to enter rehab and the purchase of a gun in late 2018, a year when his cocaine use had spiraled out of control.
Joining Biden on the third day were first lady Jill Biden, his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, close ally Kevin Morris and other longtime friends and family.
Hunter Biden watched closely as his ex-wife testified about how he ran away from home after becoming high, and as an ex-girlfriend described how he used crack cocaine “every 20 minutes” and the pain and deception she felt when he began disappearing for nights in a row. The jury was also shown Biden’s missing gun.
David Weiss, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who was appointed last year by Attorney General Merrick Garland as special counsel to investigate Biden, kept his eyes fixed on witnesses and prosecutors, occasionally glancing toward Biden’s lead defense attorney, Abe Lowell, and the rows of Biden supporters behind him.
That evening, Biden, wearing a light blue denim shirt, walked into a downtown Wilmington food hall with his wife. Some employees and customers approached him cautiously, asking for photos and saying nice things. Secret Service agents walked around the room while Biden checked out the food.
Soon, more friends arrived, including Rob Buccini and Kevin Morris, who appear in court with Biden every day.
Photo: Hunter Biden, Melissa Cohen Biden
Hunter Biden, left, leaves the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Matt Slocum/AP
After a day of focused courtroom proceedings, Cohen-Biden's mood lightened a bit, calling out to her husband and chatting with staff.
"That's Naomi," Biden's wife said, apparently referring to Biden and Burr's daughter. Cohen-Biden, wearing sweatpants and a taupe sweater, strode to a high-top table in the corner where Biden sat with two police officers and others.
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Others soon joined in.
"Abe," Buccini, Biden's longtime friend, called out to Lowell. At this point, another friend approached Lowell's legal team, high-fived David Kurlansky and said he didn't know the group of people wearing sweatshirts and other athletic apparel.
Most people didn't notice Biden, or didn't seem to care, but when they did, he displayed an easygoing charm that his ex-girlfriend said attracted her even as Biden turned her off by chasing drugs night after night.
The easygoing nature of Biden and his entourage was on display throughout the trial, as they moved in and out of the courtroom with reporters, and as the trial got underway on Tuesday, one ally even flagged down a reporter from the middle of the courtroom seats, hoping to have a private conversation out of earshot. Biden gave another reporter a friendly pat on the arm as he walked out of the courtroom during an afternoon break.
Later, as the defendant’s ex-girlfriend stepped off the witness stand, she appeared to make eye contact with her, and Cohen-Biden smiled tenderly as the woman passed by.
Judge Maryellen Norieka seemed concerned that the dynamic could undermine the integrity of the jury.
In an aside, Norieka said three jurors encountered Cohen-Biden in the restroom during a break that morning and briefly crossed paths. Norieka instructed her team that the jury could not be left unaccompanied.
Here’s what you missed on Day 3:
Witnesses
Biden’s ex-wife, Kathryn Burr, said she never witnessed Biden taking drugs, but she explained that in 2015 she found a drug pipe in their Washington home and that Biden confessed to her that he had begun using drugs.
Bull testified that in the months that followed, she continued to find drug paraphernalia and even drug residue, including in her then-husband’s car, which she began cleaning regularly to ensure their children didn’t drive with drugs when they borrowed it. She testified that her husband was using drugs in 2018.
Bull and Biden’s relationship began to unravel over Biden’s drug use, and she later suggested that Biden was vindictive, such as when, after their divorce, Biden refused to release her phone number from the family phone plan and began using it himself.
Next, Biden’s girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, took the stand and detailed Biden’s near-constant use of cocaine from late 2017, when the two met, until September 2018, a period that ranged from dinners at Lucien and Fannelli cafes to stays at Chateau Marmont, Airbnb and other hotels in Los Angeles for more than a month.
Kestan said his efforts to quit, including through experimental frog venom treatment, were unsuccessful. She saw that when he lost trust in his dealers, he began seeking out powdered cocaine to turn into crack himself. She explained a system that allowed Biden to give dealers access to his bank accounts without handing over his debit card, which Biden sometimes used to give her cash.
Kasten spoke movingly about how her feelings for Biden grew over time. She wanted him off drugs and tried to help him.
But she also described periods when Biden seemed to be sliding deeper into addiction for a long time. The two were in a relationship for much of 2018, spending time together in New York and Los Angeles and later in Massachusetts.
Biden was using crack cocaine when Kasten went to accompany him in late 2018 while he was undergoing experimental treatment for depression in Newburyport.
While Kasten said she had not used drugs herself, she testified about helping Biden find drugs in Providence, Rhode Island, where she had graduated from art school a few years earlier. Lowell later investigated the details of her immunity agreement with prosecutors.
"You get immunity not because you should be worried about lying, right? You get immunity because you told prosecutors what you did was against the law, right?" Lowell said.
In additional questioning that the jury could not hear, special prosecutor Leo Wise said it was a question Kesten did not have to answer.
"I don't know if she needed to do it, or if he was doing it for publicity, or what," Wise said.
Like Buehler, Kesten was called to testify.
The final witness, the gun salesman who sold Biden the weapons at the heart of the case, testified that he saw Biden fill out a form from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and said he was not a drug user. The defense team questioned the integrity of the form and its safekeeping after Biden purchased the gun, but the clerk, Gordon Cleveland, kept detailed records of the transaction and said he saw Biden fill out the form.
Assistant Special Counsel Derek Hynes said Wednesday that Hallie Biden, Beau Biden's widow and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, will testify Thursday, one of six witnesses prosecutors plan to call before the trial wraps up that day.
Sowing seeds of doubt
Whether Biden was a drug user when he bought and owned the guns is difficult to prove, and the defense has worked to plant enough reasonable doubt in the government's narrative of the case to help sway the jury.
Lowell continues to investigate prosecutors' allegations that Biden deliberately lied about buying a gun in October 2018 by checking the box "I am not a drug user" on a form, and questions his handling of the form before and after he filled it out.
While Kesten recounted Biden's weeks and months of drug use in detail, she was unable to provide prosecutors with any evidence in the most important time frame: the period between when Biden bought the gun on Oct. 12 and when Hallie Biden found it on Oct. 23.
Earlier in the day, jurors took notes as FBI agent Erica Jensen spoke about the government's handling of gun forms, and ultimately said she had no direct knowledge of how Biden filled them out. Under questioning by Lowell, Jensen said the government took possession of Biden's laptop months later after it was abandoned at a repair shop in Wilmington.
If convicted, the president's son could face up to 25 years in prison.
Former President Donald Trump will attend a private meeting with one of Washington's most influential business lobbying groups in an attempt to build an alliance with major corporate leaders.
Busines... View MoreFormer President Donald Trump will attend a private meeting with one of Washington's most influential business lobbying groups in an attempt to build an alliance with major corporate leaders.
Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolton confirmed in an email to members on Wednesday that Trump will attend the group's plenary meeting in Washington on June 13. Although President Joe Biden was invited, he was unable to attend because he was out of the country for the G7 meeting. According to Bolton's email, the business group invited White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to attend. Zients accepted the invitation last week and plans to address the group on June 13, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Bolton wrote in the letter that the meeting is secret and closed to the media. He also said that the Trump team had confirmed to the group that the former president would attend the meeting. A spokesman for the Trump campaign declined to comment. The Business Roundtable did not respond to a request for comment.
The invitation to members came nearly a week after Trump was found guilty in New York of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn actresses. Trump has consistently denied the allegations.
The meeting is likely to draw all members of the Business Roundtable, which is attended by more than 200 CEOs. It could be a critical moment for Trump, who has been trying to drum up support and donations from business leaders for his presidential campaign while touting the idea that he would cut taxes and impose sweeping tariffs if he defeats Biden in November.
The group’s members include Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman, who recently expressed his support for Trump after saying he wanted to support the former president’s replacement in 2022. Other members include JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Carlyle Group CEO Harvey Schwartz, AT&T CEO John Stankey and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth.
The Business Roundtable did not always support Trump’s policies during his presidency.
The group welcomed Trump’s tax cuts but questioned the then-president’s policies of imposing tariffs on Chinese products.
Several members of the council resigned from the White House Business Advisory Council after the 2017 white nationalist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco and current chairman of the Business Roundtable, said at the time that it was “unbelievable that we’re having this conversation in 2017,” and that his company condemned “racism, discrimination, neo-Nazism and white supremacy.”
After the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, the Business Roundtable condemned the attack and called on Trump to “end the chaos and facilitate a peaceful transition of power.”
Trump has frequently tried to curry favor with some wealthy business leaders despite his apparent differences with them.
In January, Suzy Wells, a senior Trump campaign adviser, spoke to a group of Republican big donors in Florida about why she thought they should support Trump. The group is led by veteran investor Paul Singer.
Even after the conviction, Republican-leaning business leaders shrugged off Trump’s conviction and, in some cases, offered more support. Trump’s operation announced that it raised more than $50 million in the 24 hours following last week’s conviction.
What to know about Hunter Biden's criminal trial
Hunter Biden's criminal trial continued today with opening statements and witness testimony. The president's only surviving son faces three charges tie... View MoreWhat to know about Hunter Biden's criminal trial
Hunter Biden's criminal trial continued today with opening statements and witness testimony. The president's only surviving son faces three charges tied to the possession of a gun while using narcotics and has pleaded not guilty. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika is overseeing the proceedings.
Prosecutors on special counsel David Weiss' team previewed testimony that the jury will hear from several key witnesses, including the man who sold Hunter Biden his gun and Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden who had a relationship with Hunter Biden after Beau's death.
Prosecutors on special counsel David Weiss' team previewed testimony that the jury will hear from several key witnesses, including the man who sold Hunter Biden his gun and Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden who had a relationship with Hunter Biden after Beau's death.
In a dramatic courthouse scene, Hunter Biden's wife Melissa Cohen-Biden confronted a former Trump White House aide, calling him a "Nazi piece of s---."
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