A Delaware jury is currently deliberating whether Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, violated federal gun laws by purchasing a revolver in 2018 while allegedly battling crack cocaine addiction.
After an hour of deliberation on Monday, the 12 jurors left the courtroom without reaching a verdict. They are scheduled to resume their deliberations on Tuesday morning.
This high-profile trial unfolds just ahead of the presidential elections in November, coming less than a month after a New York jury found Republican frontrunner Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records.
The president’s 54-year-old son faces three felony charges related to his purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver. The prosecution alleges that he lied about his history of drug use when completing paperwork for the sale. While Biden acknowledged struggling with alcohol and drug addiction in the past, his defense team maintains that he didn’t consider himself an addict at the time of the gun purchase.
The jury heard details about Biden’s drug history, including testimony from his former romantic partners. They also viewed personal messages and private photos. The prosecution presented Hunter Biden’s laptop, which became the center of a 2020 scandal after he left it at a Delaware repair shop.
Biden’s ex-wife and two former girlfriends testified about his crack cocaine use and failed attempts at recovery. Hunter Biden chose not to take the stand. A crucial witness against him was Hallie Biden, widow of his late brother Beau and a former romantic partner. She testified that she discovered the revolver in Hunter’s truck in October 2018, panicked, and discarded it in a store garbage can where it was later found.
The prosecution presented text messages allegedly indicating Biden was trying to buy drugs around the time of the gun purchase. In one text message, he admitted to Hallie that he was smoking crack. The defense argued that Hunter Biden didn’t mean what he wrote and was simply trying to push Hallie away.
“We ask you [to] find the law applies equally to this defendant as it would to anyone else,” prosecutor Derek Hines requested of the jury during closing arguments. “When he chose to lie and buy a gun he violated the law. We ask you return the only verdict supported by the evidence – guilty,” Hines stated.
Biden’s defense team argued that they had proven their case “seven ways to Sunday,” criticizing the prosecution’s evidence as “ugly.”
The prosecutors attempted to secure a plea deal with Biden in 2023, but it was rejected after facing criticism from the judge.
Republicans and conservative figures have repeatedly brought up Biden’s addictions and tumultuous personal life in an attempt to damage his father’s re-election campaign. They have accused the younger Biden of corruption and influence peddling on his father’s behalf.
The president has denied these allegations of corruption and publicly defended his son. “As the president, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength,” Joe Biden stated in a recent statement.