On the fifth day of the Hunter Biden trial, the prosecution called its final witnesses. Multiple gun store employees and one of Biden’s daughters then took the stand for the defense.
‘It’s rudimentary’: After a few more witnesses, prosecution rests
The final few witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution. Perhaps the most notable of these witnesses was a DEA agent who examined text messages that Biden exchanged in 2018, allegedly while in the throes of active drug addiction.
‘This is not my investigation.’
Special agent Joshua Romig claimed that these messages, allegedly exchanged with drug dealers, contain “standard code” words and phrases for cocaine, including “baby powder” and “really soft stuff.”
“It’s rudimentary,” he claimed.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Abbe Lowell pressed Romig about his familiarity with the recipients of these text messages. When Lowell asked Romig whether he had investigated any of these recipients for alleged drug dealing, Romig replied in the negative.
But he also claimed that he had a good reason for not investigating them: He wasn’t assigned to the Hunter Biden case.
“This is not my investigation,” he stated, according to the AP.
After Romig finished his testimony, the prosecution rested its case.
‘Missing information’: Defense grills gun shop employees
The first three witnesses called by the defense at some point worked for StarQuest Shooters, the Delaware gun shop where Biden purchased a Colt revolver on October 12, 2018. Prosecutors allege Biden bought the gun there illegally since federal law prohibits drug addicts from purchasing firearms.
CNN described Turner as ‘frustrated’ with Lowell and his line of questioning.
The testimony from the employees may seem a bit confusing since these employees had to dance around one crucial issue: The forms Biden had filled out had been altered three years after he bought the gun because he never provided the shop a secondary form of identification in addition to his passport as required by law. Judge Maryellen Noreika ruled on Sunday that introducing that information might cause “unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, and misleading the jury.”
Though federal law requires a second form of ID, such as a utility bill, when a prospective gun buyer offers only a passport, StarQuest owner Ronald Palimere testified that he authorized his employees to process the purchase in Biden’s case even without the second form of ID.
“I was trying to not hold the sale up,” he explained.
Jason Turner, a former StarQuest employee who ran the background check on Biden, testified that Biden’s ATF form “was missing information.” Turner also admitted he later added Biden’s vehicle registration number to the form, though that registration number did not appear on the form shown in court.
“There’s no such reference,” defense attorney Lowell noted.
“There should be,” Turner countered.
CNN described Turner as “frustrated” with Lowell and his line of questioning. The AP likewise called him “irritated.”
Biden’s daughter takes the stand
Biden’s attorneys have repeatedly argued in court that Biden didn’t lie on the ATF forms regarding drug use since he wasn’t actively using drugs at the time of purchase and therefore didn’t view himself as an addict. To underscore that premise, they called Biden’s 30-year-old daughter Naomi to the stand.
Naomi claimed she couldn’t recall when she first learned about her father’s drug problem. However, shortly after his brother Beau passed away in 2015, “things got bad,” she claimed.
‘I’m really sorry dad I can’t take this.’
In 2018, Naomi was dating the man who is now her husband, and the couple had interacted with Biden and could ostensibly speak to his level of sobriety.
On a trip to L.A. that August, Naomi, her then-boyfriend, her father, and his “sober coach” met for coffee. “I told him I was so proud of him,” she testified.
“He just seemed really great.”
Then in October 2018, the same month Biden purchased the handgun, Naomi drove her dad’s truck from Washington to New York. Naomi claimed she never saw any drugs or drug paraphernalia in the vehicle.
Biden made a trip to New York that same month but saw little of his daughter. He did, however, send text messages that indicate a disturbed state of mind.
At approximately 2 a.m. on October 17, five days after the gun purchase, Biden texted Naomi, asking where she had left his keys and wondering whether he and her then-boyfriend could swap vehicles, according to messages read aloud in court.
“Right now?” she replied via text.
“I’m really sorry dad I can’t take this.”
Prosecutor Leo Wise then asked Naomi: “Do you know what your father was doing at two o’clock in the morning and why he was asking you for the car then?”
“No,” she responded, adding that she remained “hopeful” because her father “still seemed good.”
Anything else?
The defense claimed it still has at least one more witness — James Biden, brother of President Joe Biden and uncle of Hunter — to call on Monday. Defense attorneys have not stated whether Hunter Biden intends to take the stand.
Earlier on Friday, defense attorney Lowell made a verbal motion for acquittal and promised to submit a written version of the motion at a later time.
“I appreciate you letting me know what’s coming,” Judge Noreika replied.
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