Federal prosecutors on Tuesday painted Joe Biden’s son Hunter as a clear drug addict whose dark habits ensnared loved ones and who knew what he was doing when he lied on federal forms to purchase a gun in 2018 when he said he was not in the throes of addiction.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden’s attorney said he would call the president’s brother James Biden as a witness. James and Hunter are close, and the uncle helped his nephew through rehab stints in the past.
Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase when he was, according to his memoir, addicted to crack. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
Prosecutors told the jury in their opening statement that Hunter Biden was clearly an addict when he bought the gun, and that he told his brother’s widow he was waiting for a drug dealer just days after he lied on the form.
“No one is allowed to lie on a federal form like that, even Hunter Biden,” federal prosecutor Derek Hines said.
Hines said “addiction is depressing” but that Hunter Biden’s addiction was not the reason for the case.
The proceedings come after the collapse of a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty and has argued he is being unfairly targeted by the justice department after Republicans decried the now-defunct plea deal as special treatment for the Democratic president’s son.
The first lady, Jill Biden, and his sister Ashley Biden joined him again in the courtroom as opening statements began.
The trial is unfolding just days after Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.
Hunter Biden also faces a trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4m in taxes. Both cases were to have been resolved through the deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a years-long investigation into his business dealings.
Opening statements come as the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, faces members of the Republican-led House judiciary committee in Washington, which has been investigating the president and his family and whose chairman has been at the forefront of a stalled impeachment inquiry stemming from Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
The Delaware trial is not about Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs, though the proceedings are likely to dredge up dark, embarrassing and painful memories.
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Onboard Air Force One on Monday night, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was asked if the case might affect the president’s ability to do his job, and she replied: “Absolutely not.”
The case against Hunter Biden stems from a period when, by his own public admission, he was addicted to crack. His descent followed the 2015 death of his brother from cancer.
If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it is unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.
Trump is set to be sentenced on 11 July by Judge Juan Merchan, who raised the specter of jail time during the trial after the former president racked up thousands of dollars in fines for violating a gag order.