Closing arguments underway in Hunter Biden’s trial on gun charges

WILMINGTON, Delaware — Closing arguments began Monday in Hunter Biden’s trial on gun-related charges, with a federal prosecutor telling jurors that “no one is above the law.”

The jury of 12 Delawareans will begin deliberating after both sides complete their closings, likely by the end of the day.

The president’s son faces three felony charges, brought by special counsel David Weiss, stemming from his purchase of a handgun in October 2018. Prosecutors have charged Biden with illegally possessing a gun as a drug user and lying on paperwork about his addiction to crack cocaine at the time of the purchase.

Near the start of his argument, prosecutor Leo Wise gestured to the crowd of people in the courtroom gallery, which included First Lady Jill Biden and other members of the Biden family.

“All of this is not evidence,” Wise said. “The people sitting in the gallery are not evidence. … You may recognize some of them from the news or the community. … Respectfully, none of that matters.”

Biden’s lead defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell, faulted the prosecution for the reference to the publicity surrounding the case.

“How did they just begin their argument?” Lowell asked in his own closing argument. “With raising his mom or wife or sister or other relatives sitting in the courtroom.”

Lowell described the prosecutors’ allegations as based on “suspicion and conjecture.” He told the jury, “It’s time to end this case.”

Biden faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years if convicted on all counts, but would likely receive much less prison time, if any.

Earlier on Monday, Biden’s defense team rested its case after Biden declined to testify in his own defense.

The trial began on June 3. Prosecutors spent four days last week presenting witnesses and evidence, including lengthy portions from the audio version of Biden’s memoir, which described his addiction in gut-wrenching detail.

They also called three women who had been in relationships with Biden: Kathleen Buhle, his ex-wife; Zoe Kestan, who was romantically involved with him in 2017 and 2018; and Hallie Biden, his brother’s widow, with whom he struck up a romance after his brother’s death in 2015. All three women shared details about his use of crack cocaine.

Prosecutors also called the gun store salesman said to have sold Biden the gun. He described helping Biden choose a revolver and watching him fill out a federal gun purchase form, including checking a box saying he did not use illegal drugs.

Biden’s defense team presented a brief case on Friday, calling three witnesses to testify for him. Two of them — the owner of the gun store and a former employee there — were not particularly friendly. Both described the process by which the gun store personnel handled his paperwork.

Lowell had wanted to show the jury evidence that the gun purchase form was altered several weeks after the sale, when someone belatedly added a line saying Biden used his vehicle registration as ID. But Judge Maryellen Noreika barred the defense from making that argument.

Still, by calling in two people who were at the gun store on the day of the sale, Lowell aimed to raise questions in jurors’ minds about how the purchase was handled. One of the witnesses indicated that something was wrong with the copy of the form shown during the trial, but could not elaborate after prosecutors objected.

Biden’s defense also called his adult daughter Naomi Biden. She testified that she saw her father in New York in October of 2018, the month when he bought the gun, and said he seemed to be doing well. But prosecutors cast doubt on that characterization by showing her texts she exchanged with her father on that trip, including one in which he messaged her at 2 a.m. about meeting up, and another in which she wrote, “I’m really sorry dad I can’t take this.”

After the defense rested on Monday morning, prosecutors mounted a brief rebuttal case by re-calling FBI agent Erika Jensen. Jensen initially took the stand last week, and on Monday she testified further about Biden's whereabouts in the days around the time he purchased the gun.

Prosecutors noted that one text message during that period referred to meeting someone at a 7-Eleven convenience store and that location data showed Biden near a 7-Eleven a few days later. Prosecutor Derek Hines also displayed a portion of Biden’s memoir that gives a “7-Eleven on such-and-such street” as an example of where drug dealers often suggest meeting up.

However, Lowell noted that Jensen said Biden was near the 7-Eleven at around 4 or 5 a.m. — and that Biden was trying to get in touch with Hallie Biden so that she could let him into her house, but she didn’t appear to be awake. The defense attorney said Hunter Biden may have simply gone to the 7-Eleven for more pedestrian reasons than to complete a drug deal.

“Was he going there to meet ‘Hugh’ or to get a cup of coffee before Hallie wrote back?” Lowell asked Jensen.

“I don't know,” she replied.

“You don't know whether it’s a doughnut, a coffee … I don't think anyone gets a Slurpee at that hour,” Lowell added.