Day 5 of Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial | CNN Politics (2024)

Special counsel prosecutorsrested their caseagainst Hunter Biden on Friday, and his lawyers said they’ll decide over the weekend whether he testifies in his own defense.

That would be a bold and risky move for President Joe Biden’s son, who could face prison time if he is convicted of the felony gun charges that he’s facing. He has pleaded not guilty to lying on federal background check forms about his drug use and to possessing a gun while addicted to drugs.

The defense began presenting its case on Friday, calling Biden’s daughter Naomi Biden, who said she was “nervous” and appeared uncomfortable at times, including when confronted by prosecutors about some difficult texts with her father.

Here’s what to know about the fifth day of the trial:

No cameras are allowed inside the Delaware courtroom where Hunter Biden’s trial is underway, but sketch artist Bill Hennessy captured today’s proceedings as Naomi Biden testified while her father watched nearby.

The defense team’s first witnesses were Jason Turner, an employee at the store where Hunter Biden bought the weapon, and the gun store’s owner, Ronald Palimere.

Hunter Biden watches as his daughter Naomi Biden testifies in court on Friday, June 7, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Naomi Biden testifies in court on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.

Hunter Biden sits in court on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.

Gun store employee Jason Tuner.

Gun store owner Ronald Palimere.

It was clear speaking about her father was a very painful subject for Naomi Biden, and even though she is a graduate of Columbia Law School, she appeared very uncomfortable on the stand after the defense called her to testify in the trial against Hunter Biden.

Naomi Biden entered the court with her husband, and first lady Jill Biden immediately motioned for him to come sit next to her amongthe Biden family and friends who make up at least the first two rows of the courtroom.

Naomi Biden’s testimony focused on two instances in 2018 when she saw her father.

The first was in August or September, when she went to visit her dad in Los Angeles. Hunter Biden had reached out to her to come visit him amid his stint in rehab. Hunter Biden offered to arrange the trip and Naomi Biden said she agreed to go, even though she had not seen him in quite some time.

On the stand, Naomi Biden came across as genuine and compelling as the child of an addict.

She then testified about a trip to New York City, where he came to pick up a car. She described seeing him at the end of October, and said she seemed “hopeful.” Naomi Biden said her father seemed the same as when she had seen him in Los Angeles.

On cross examination by prosecutor Leo Wise, she again testified about how she had not seen her father recently because “after my uncle died, things got bad,” around 2015.

Prosecutors got her to concede that she really did not know what he was like when he was using drugs because she had not seen him for quite some time.

Naomi Biden seemed a little confused and reticent when confronted with texts appearing to show her father to be somewhat erratic and non-communicative when trying to arrange the hand off of his car.

She did not remember the exchange and started to appear increasingly uncomfortable when talking about texts her father sent her in the wee hours of the morning about exchanging his car.

As she left the stand, Naomi Biden gave her dad a cool embrace, a kiss on the cheek, and was seen trembling and wiping away tears as she exited the courtroom.

The jury has been sent home for the day and court has adjourned.

Defense attorneys said in court that James Biden will not be called to testify, nor would any other witnesses.

First lady Jill Biden did not return to court after the lunch break.

James Biden arrives at federal court on Friday, June 7 in Wilmington, Delaware.

James Biden is waiting in the witness room down a narrow atrium connected to the courtroom where his nephew is standing trial. He is expected to testify in the defense’s case Friday afternoon.

During lunch, part of Hunter’s legal team was seen carrying boxes of Jimmy John’s sandwiches to the attorney’s side room where Hunter stays during lunch.

“Every day,” one of Biden’s legal team responded.

Prosecutors have rested their case inHunter Biden’s federal gun trial, wrapping up Friday after several days of presenting evidence on Biden’s addiction to crack cocaine and the 2018 gun purchase at the center of his charges.

Hunter Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden, then was on stand as court went to a break for lunch.

Here’s what has happened so far during the fifth day in court:

The prosecution called two additional witnesses before resting Friday:

When her testimony was over, Naomi Biden, flanked by two people with their arms around her, walked slowly away from the courtroom. She had a tear streaming down her face, but quickly wiped it away with a shaky hand.

During her testimony, a member of Hunter Biden’s legal team walked out of the courtroom and whispered, “Naomi is doing really well.”

Naomi Biden walked into a black SUV and waited there for a few minutes.Then, first lady Jill Biden, along with Hunter’s wife Melissa Cohen Biden left the building and they departed the area at the same time.

She is not expected to resume testimony after the lunch break.

A series of emotional texts between Hunter Biden and his daughter, Naomi, were read to jurors during her testimony on Friday.

Naomi Biden had asked Hunter Biden if she would see him while he was in New York in late October 2018.

“I’m really sorry dad I can’t take this,” the texts said, adding that she wanted to “hang out with you.”

Hunter Biden replied that night he was sorry he had been unreachable.

Court has taken a break for lunch.

Naomi Biden testified that her father “still seemed good” on October 18, 2018, and said, “I was hopeful,” presumably about his sobriety efforts.

They interacted in New York City at this time, as Hunter Biden was trying to get his truck back from Naomi.

Why this matters: Prosecutors allege that Hunter Biden’s gun possession — from October 12 to 23 in 2018 — was a crime because they say he was a drug user or addict around that time.

During her direct testimony, Naomi Biden also testified that in late October 2018, she used her father’s truck and that she didn’t see drugs inside.

Hallie Biden had testified earlier during the trial that in late October 2018, she found drug paraphernalia in the car at the same time that she found the gun and residue she thought was from drugs.

Naomi Biden said she knew Hunter Biden, her father, was “struggling with addiction” but that she never saw her dad doing drugs in front of her.

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly when she learned of Hunter Biden’s drug abuse.

“After my uncle died, things got bad,” she said, referring to Beau Biden’s death in summer 2015.

Recounting the late summer 2018 visit to Los Angeles while Hunter Biden was in treatment, Naomi Biden said she told her father she was “so proud of him” and that she was so happy that she got to introduce her partner – now husband – to him.

Naomi Biden said her dad “seemed like the clearest he had been since my uncle died … he seemed really great.”

After seeing Hunter Biden in late October 2018, Naomi Biden said “he seemed great. He seemed hopeful.”

Prosecutors are now questioning Naomi Biden on cross-examination.

Naomi Biden’s answers have been quiet and short, generally. Some of her answers were almost close to a whisper.

Naomi Biden testified Friday about taking a trip to see her dad, Hunter Biden, while he was at a rehab facility in Los Angeles in the late summer of 2018.

“He just seemed really great,” she testified of seeing Biden and having lunch with him.

“I hadn’t seen my dad in a really long time,” she said, adding later that she was nervous to testify.

The defense has called the daughter of Hunter Biden, Naomi Biden, to the stand.

Naomi Biden’s testimony is expected to bolster the defense’s effort to blunt the impact of testimony of Hallie Biden, the prosecution’s star witness and Hunter Biden’s former girlfriend.

She is the granddaughter of President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, who is in attendance in the courtroom.

Toward the end of Jason Turner’s testimony, he acknowledged that there was something wrong with the ATF form from Hunter Biden’s gun purchase. However, he did not elaborate as to what was wrong with the form after objections from prosecutors.

This is part of the defense’s effort to scrutinize the form and the conduct of the gun store employees.

But the judge has prohibited Hunter Biden’s lawyers from directly revealing to the jury that the employees doctored the form three years later, to make sure it was compliant with federal law.

The original form wasn’t compliant because it relied solely on Hunter Biden’s passport as a form of identification. But Turner testified that passports need to be supplemented by another ID because they do not have an address listed.

Lowell is questioning Palimere about this topic as well.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell is walking through the federal form Hunter Biden filled out to purchase a firearm with Jason Turner, one of the former employees of the store.

Turner testified about how he processed the form from Hunter Biden and became frustrated with Lowell’s questions.

When asked what he was doing at a particular time when Hunter Biden bought the gun, Turner joked: “I put on my ritual robes and went and sat in a marble room.”

The store’s owner, Ronald Palimere, has now been called by the defense to testify.

Naomi Biden arrives to federal court on Friday, June 7, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Hunter Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden, and President Joe Biden’s brother, James Biden, entered the courthouse minutes apart from each other.

They are expected to be called by the defense to testify.

Court is back in session. The defense team’s first witness, gun store employee Jason Tuner, has been called to the stand.

The defense said earlier that they will also call to the stand the owner of the store where Hunter Biden bought the weapon.

As is common in criminal cases, Hunter Biden’s lawyers have asked the judge to acquit him now that the prosecutors have rested their case.

One of the grounds is that the prosecution is improper under the Second Amendment.

Judge Maryellen Noreika sounded skeptical of one of their other grounds, based on an amendment to the gun possession law.

“It’s an interesting concept,” she said.

Noreika will not be ruling on their motions at this time.

Special counsel David Weiss’ team has rested its case against Hunter Biden.

Prosecutors presented several days of extensive evidence of Hunter Biden’s addiction to crack cocaine in the months around his 2018 gun purchase.

The special counsel’s office called 10 witnesses to stand across four days. Jurors heard from several women who had relationships with Hunter Biden and witnessed his addiction.

One of those witnesses, Hallie Biden, testified about finding a gun in Hunter Biden’s truck and getting rid of it in a grocery store trash can.

Defense attorneys have argued that prosecutors don’t have direct evidence that Hunter Biden used the drugs in the month he made the gun purchase at the center of the case.

The president’s son faces 3 charges for allegedly purchasing and owning the firearm while using illegal drugs.

DEA special agent Joshua Romighas taken the stand.

A special agent from the DEA with 25 years of investigating drug crimes who looked at Hunter Biden’s texts, Romig explained to the jury the various drug terms related to cocaine.

For instance, Romig said “baby powder” and the “really soft stuff” referred to powder cocaine, in some of Hunter Biden’s texts.

“It’s rudimentary, pretty standard code,” Romig said.

On cross examination, defense attorney David Kolansky highlighted that the amount of residue – which tested positive for cocaine – was “minimal” in the bag.

“Correct,” Jason Brewer, the agent, said.

Brewer also confirmed that the bag wasn’t analyzed by him until years after it was obtained by authorities and that he didn’t test for fingerprints and couldn’t determine when the drug residue was put in the bag.

Prosecutors have called FBI forensic chemist Jason Brewer to the stand.

Brewer testified that the powder found on the pouch with Hunter Biden’s gun tested positive for cocaine.

“Cocaine was identified within the residual white particles that I sampled,” he said.

While the case was recovered in 2018, the defense notes that it wasn’t tested until 2023 and have suggested the pouch may have belonged to Hallie Biden.

Hunter Biden arrives to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware on June 06, 2024.

Hunter Biden faces three charges, including making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.

The indictment stems from a 2018 gun purchase. While buying the revolver in Delaware, Biden lied on a federal form, swearing that he was not using, and was not addicted to, any illegal drugs – even though he was struggling with crack cocaine addiction at the time of the purchase.

It’s a federal crime to lie on the ATF form or to possess a firearm as a drug user. He possessed the gun for 11 days in 2018.

If convicted on all counts, Biden could theoretically face as much as 25 years in prison and fines of up to $750,000, according to court filings.

However, defendants very rarely get the maximum penalty, especially in cases like these, involving non-violent crimes and an alleged first-time offender.

The charges followed a botched agreement:Last June, Weiss announced a two-pronged agreement where Biden would plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanors and enter a “diversion agreement” where the gun charge would be dropped in two years if he passed regular drug tests and stayed out of legal trouble.

However, at a July 2023 hearing, theagreement collapsedafter a judge saidshe had “concerns” about the parties seemingly linking the tax plea agreement to resolving a felony gun charge. Attorney General Merrick Garlandnamed Weiss as special counselthe month after.

CNN’sMarshall Cohen,Kara Scannell, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this post.

First lady Jill Biden arrives to federal court on Friday, June 7, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Hunter Biden arrived at court for the fifth day of his trial on federal gun charges, accompanied by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden.

Also at court are first lady Jill Biden and Valerie Biden, President Joe Biden’s sister.

The first lady traveled back from France where she was commemorating D-Day with President JoeBidenand several other world leaders.

President Joe Biden in France on June 6.

President Joe Biden said hewould not pardonhis son Hunter if he’s found guilty of criminal gun charges.

Biden accused his predecessor Donald Trump of attempting to subvert the rule of law by questioning the verdict in his own criminal trial.

“He’s trying to undermine it,” Biden told Muir. “He got a fair trial. The jury spoke.”

Read more on President Joe Biden’s comments.

It is the fifth day of Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial in Wilmington, Delaware.

While buying the revolver in Delaware in 2018, prosecutors accuse Biden of lying on a federal form, swearing that he was not using, and was not addicted to, any illegal drugs — even though he was struggling with crack cocaine addiction at the time of the purchase.

Here’s who has been on the stand so far:

Prosecutors have two more witnesses — an FBI chemist and a drug expert from the DEA. They expect to rest their case after that.

First lady Jill Biden has traveled to great lengths to show support for her son Hunter as his federal gun trial is underway this week.

The first lady was on hand at the Wilmington, Delaware, courthouse for thefirst three days of the felony trialthis week, sitting through testimony recounting moments from one of the most troubled periods of her son’s life. After departing court on Wednesday, she took a red-eye flight to France to attend the commemoration ceremonies for the 80thanniversary of D-Day.

Less than 24 hours later, she boarded a military aircraft at Paris-Orly airport to make the journey home to Wilmington, where she’s expected to attend court once again on Friday. Dr. Biden is set to travel back to Paris this weekend as she and her husband,President Joe Biden, will be feted with an official state visit.

The back-and-forth travel and hours spent in the Delaware courtroom relistening to the details of a tumultuous sagainher family’s history mark the latest example of how the first lady and president continue to keep their only living son close even as his legal entanglements play out against the backdrop of the presidential campaign.

The Bidens wanted to be close as the court proceedings began with the president spending most of Monday just a few miles away at his Wilmington home. For the first lady, there was no question she would be on hand at the courthouse to support her son throughout the trial – even as official duties called back in Washington, DC, and abroad.

“She’s his mother, and he’s on trial, so of course she wants to be there as much as humanly possible,” said Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for the first lady.

“It’s something that a lot of parents, and maybe mothers especially feel, that when your children need you, it doesn’t matter how old they get, they’re always your children and you always want to be there to support them,” she added.

Read more about Jill Biden’s constant presence at Hunter Biden’s trial.

Hunter Biden’s defense team plans to call Naomi Biden, his daughter, and James Biden, the president’s brother, to testify as they begin to present their case Friday, people briefed on their plans say.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell, during his opening statement, suggested that jurors could hear from them.

Naomi Biden’s testimony is expected to bolster the defense’s effort to blunt the impact of the testimony of Hallie Biden, the prosecution’s star witness.

James Biden’s testimony is intended to help jurors hear about Hunter Biden’s efforts during the key period of 2018 to seek drug addiction treatment, some of which his uncle paid for.

Hallie Biden in court on Thursday.

The prosecution’s most important witness against Hunter Biden, his sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend Hallie Biden,testified Thursdaythat she believed he was using drugs when she saw him in October 2018, the month he claimed on a federal background check that he was clean.

Here’s what to know from the trial’s fourth day in Wilmington, Delaware: