WILMINGTON, Del. — Federal prosecutors told a jury in closing arguments Monday that evidence proves that first son Hunter Biden “knowingly” made a false statement in buying a gun in 2018 and he knew he was addicted to drugs at the time.
Prosecutor Leo Wise said Mr. Biden’s former girlfriend testified that he used drugs in California less than three weeks before he bought the gun and filled out a federal form certifying that he was not using or addicted to drugs.
“You can consider the defendant’s pattern of use,” Mr. Wise told jurors, adding the evidence shows that Mr. Biden also used drugs in the days after he bought the gun.
Mr. Wise told jurors they could convict just on the testimony from one witness — Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan — but text messages and the defendant’s own memoir add to the evidence against President Biden’s son.
He also urged jurors to look past the members of the Biden family who showed up to support Hunter Biden. First lady Jill Biden and the president’s brother, James Biden, were among those who attended court on Monday.
“All of this is not evidence,” Mr. 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.”
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell told jurors that the government didn’t meet its burden because it had to prove that Hunter Biden knew he was violating the law when he filled out the gun form. To be convicted, Mr. Lowell said, Hunter Biden had to be “conscious and aware” that what he was doing was a crime.
“With this very high burden, it’s time to end this case,” he said, calling prosecutors’ case a “magician’s trick.”
Hunter Biden faces three felony charges brought by special counsel David Weiss arising from his purchase of a handgun at a Wilmington, Delaware, gun shop in October 2018.
Mr. Wise said prosecutors don’t have to prove Hunter Biden used drugs on the day he bought the gun, just around the time of the gun purchase. He noted that Ms. Kestan testified that Hunter Biden used drugs in California less than three weeks before he bought the gun.
“You could convict on those facts alone,” Mr. Wise said.
Mr. Wise also pointed to text messages sent by Hunter Biden during October 2018 in which he talks about drug deals and waiting to purchase crack.
Defense attorneys said those text messages, which were sent to his ex-girlfriend and former sister-in-law Hallie Biden, were lies because he didn’t want to see her anymore.
“Use your common sense,” Mr. Wise urged jurors. “If he didn’t want to see her, he could have just said he was in D.C.”
The prosecutor also referred to the personal nature of the evidence that prosecutors presented during the trial.
“The evidence was personal. It was ugly, and it was overwhelming,” Mr. Wise said. “It was also absolutely necessary.”
Mr. Lowell pushed back on the use of Hunter Biden’s book during the trial, saying it was “not a diary entry,” and accusing prosecutors of taking his words out of context.
He said it was “most unfair” because people refer to themselves as addicts, even when they are not using.
“Hunter has not asked anyone to excuse the mistakes he had made: using drugs and alcohol to dull the pain that he felt,” Mr. Lowell said.
He also criticized the testimony of Ms. Kestan, whose testimony was relied upon heavily by Mr. Wise during his closing remarks. He said they did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter Biden was withdrawing a large amount of cash to buy drugs.
Mr. Lowell said much of prosecutors’ evidence is “speculation or conjecture.”
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