Federal prosecutors wrapped up their gun case against Hunter Biden on Friday with two final witnesses in their effort to prove that the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form when he said he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Prosecutors called an FBI forensic chemist, Jason Brewer, who tested a residue found on the leather pouch that contained Hunter Biden’s gun. It came back positive for cocaine, though the amount was minimal, he told jurors. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent testified about text messages Hunter Biden sent to alleged dealers.
Their testimony capped a week that has been largely dedicated to highlighting the seriousness of Hunter Biden’s drug problem through highly personal and often revealing testimony. Defense attorneys may now call witnesses.
Jurors heard Thursday from Hunter Biden's his ex-wife and a former girlfriend who testified about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. They saw images of the president's son bare-chested and disheveled in a filthy room, and half-naked holding crack pipes. And they watched video of his crack cocaine weighed on a scale.
Prosecutor say the evidence is necessary to prove that Hunter, 54, was in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied when he checked “no” on the form that asked whether he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to" drugs.
Prosecutors have played lengthy audio excerpts in court of his 2021 memoir "Beautiful Things," in which he writes about his lifelong addiction issues and spiraling descent after death of his brother Beau in 2015. The book, written after he got sober, covers the period he had the gun but doesn't mention it specifically.
Lowell has said Hunter Biden's state of mind was different when he wrote the book than when he purchased the gun, when he didn’t believe he had an addiction." Newsmax
