OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:14 PM – Tuesday, June 4, 2024
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors portrayed Hunter, the son of President Joe Biden, as a manipulative drug addict who knew what he was doing when he lied on federal documents in order to buy a firearm in 2018.
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James Biden, the president’s brother, will be called as a witness, according to Hunter Biden’s lawyer. Hunter and James are reportedly very close, and the uncle has previously assisted his nephew throughout periods of rehabilitation.
“You will see that he is not guilty,” said Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell.
“Abbe Lowell is a white-collar defense and trial lawyer, with a long history of working with Democrats and Republicans… representing Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner,” USA Today reported.
Hunter Biden, who previously wrote a memoir detailing his crack addiction, has been charged with three felonies related to the gun purchase. He is charged with fabricating information on the application to indicate that he does not take drugs, lying to a federally registered gun dealer, and possessing the weapon unlawfully for 11 days.
In their opening statement, prosecutors informed the jury that, just days after lying on the form and telling his brother’s widow in a message that he was waiting for a drug dealer, Hunter Biden had still planned to buy the gun. An audio excerpt from his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” in which he discussed returning to Delaware around the time of the gun purchase, was also played for the jurors.
At one point, Lowell tried to argue that the president’s son did not think of himself as a drug user at the time of the purchase. He also expressed to the jury that it is imperative that Hunter “knowingly” violated the law.
“No one is allowed to lie on a federal form like that, even Hunter Biden,” stated federal prosecutor Derek Hines. “He crossed the line when he chose to buy a gun and lied about a federal background check … the defendant’s choice to buy a gun is why we are here.”
“When the defendant filled out that form, he knew he was a drug addict,” and prosecutors do not have to even prove that he was using that day, Hines added.
Following the breakdown of an agreement with prosecutors that would have prevented the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election, the proceedings are now taking place.
After Republicans criticized the now-defunct plea agreement as preferential treatment for the Democrat president’s son, Hunter Biden entered a not guilty plea and said that the Justice Department was unfairly targeting him, even after the Biden family has mocked former President Donald Trump for making the same argument in regards to his New York charges.
“Prosecutors entered into evidence records related to enormous cash withdrawals Hunter Biden made, more than $150,000 from September through November of 2018, including a $5,000 withdrawal on the day he purchased the gun. Prosecutors suggested this cash was used to procure drugs…” ABC News reported.
In recent years, under the Biden administration, the DOJ has been accused of going after a number of Conservative interest groups, like Moms for Liberty, as well as notable Republicans who back Donald Trump, like Steve Bannon, so Hunter’s excuse of the DOJ unfairly targeting him prompted confusion.
In the beginning of April, the DOJ requested that a New York district judge impose a four- to ten-month jail sentence on the woman who found and took first daughter Ashley Biden’s longtime diary after she left it at her old residence, so the Justice Department does not seem to have a vendetta against Hunter or the Biden family.
As opening statements began, First Lady Jill Biden and Ashley Biden, who had been in the court session on Monday, joined Hunter once more in the courtroom.
Additionally, the expected testimonies from Hunter Biden’s former partners reportedly include intimate and unflattering details about his addictions and “party boy” lifestyle.
In September, Hunter Biden is also scheduled to stand trial in California regarding how he purportedly failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes.
Insiders at the White House who recently spoke to the press revealed that the president’s aides are anxious about the toll the trial may take on President Biden, who has long been concerned about his only living son’s sobriety. The president will now watch as Hunter’s past illicit actions are publicly probed.
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