Prosecutors are seeking to prove that Hunter Biden lied about his drug use on a federal firearms application in October 2018, wrapping up his trial on Friday after days of testimony detailing personal aspects of his addiction to crack cocaine.
The government plans to call two additional witnesses, experts in law enforcement and narcotics, likely paving the way for Biden's defense team to mount a full defense as the trial enters its second week. Biden's defense team has signaled it may call other members of the Biden family, including Biden and his daughter Naomi.
The trial has featured witnesses called from three former girlfriends to testify about the severity of Hunter Biden's drug addiction around the time he acquired his guns, and regular court appearances from Biden's family and friends, including first lady Jill Biden, who returned from France on Thursday to support Biden in court.
Biden is charged with three felony counts: lying to a federally licensed firearms dealer, making a false statement on a federal firearms application, and possessing an illegally obtained firearm. If convicted, Biden could face up to 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. However, non-violent first-time offenders who are not accused of using the weapon in another crime rarely receive significant prison time for the charge.
The defense has signaled it wants to prove Biden wasn't using drugs at the time he applied to buy the gun, highlighting gaps in witness testimony, text messages and Biden's own memoir. One of Biden's lawyers, Abe Lowell, has already tried to poke holes in the prosecution's timeline of Biden's drug use patterns in the months before and after the gun purchase as part of his cross-examination.
Prosecutors sought details from Biden's former partners about a habit that escalated into drug-fueled partying and his travels around the country as he unsuccessfully tried to get sober, but the women also acknowledged that neither of them had seen Biden in the month he bought the gun.
To obtain a firearm, he was required to fill out federal paperwork as part of a mandatory background check, to which he answered “no” to the question, “Are you an unlawful user of, or an addict to, marijuana, any sedative, stimulant, opioid or other controlled substance?”
The defense argues that the questions are written in the present tense and the government cannot prove that Biden was using crack cocaine on Oct. 12, 2018, the day he acquired the gun.
Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is presiding over the case, has indicated she wants the trial to move quickly, and she has already ruled that Biden's defense team cannot point to the fact that local authorities decided not to prosecute Biden when the gun was recovered.
