WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The Latest on Hunter Biden's federal gun trial (all times local):
Prosecutor Leo Wise handed FBI chemist Jason handed Brewer a leather pouch in which Hunter Biden's sister-in-law and former lover Hallie Biden put the gun before tossing it in a trash can outside an upscale grocery store near her home 11 days after he bought it.
Brewer said he tested the pouch to determine whether there was any trace of drugs or drug residue.
“I found a minimal amount of white powder, or off-white powder,” Brewer said. The powder was found on the interior flap and in the bottom of the pouch.
Brewer said he tested the powder with a chemical solution and gas chromatography.
“Did you reach a conclusion about the substance you tested?” Wise asked.
“Cocaine was identified within the residual white powder that I sampled,” Brewer said.
On cross-examination, defense attorney David Kolansky noted the amount of residue Brewer tested was “minimal.” He also noted that Brewer tested the pouch in October 2023, five years after the pouch was recovered by police who were called after Hallie Biden threw it in the trash can.
Kolasnky also noted that the tests Brewer did don't indicate when the drug residue got on the pouch or how it got there.
Currently:
— Back from France, the first lady attends Hunter Biden’s gun trial. Prosecution has 2 more witnesses
Here’s the latest:
The fifth day of Hunter Biden’s gun trial in Delaware began Friday with prosecutors calling an FBI forensic chemist examiner to the witness stand.
Prosecutor Leo Wise is questioning Jason Brewer, who is an expert in analyzing controlled substances.
Hunter Biden is charged with falsely denying he was a drug user or addict when he bought a gun at a Wilmington gun store in October 2018.
First lady Jill Biden has arrived at the courthouse for son Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial.
She left France on Thursday evening where she was attending D-Day events with President Joe Biden. She’ll return to France for a state dinner.
Federal prosecutors are wrapping up their gun case in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial with two more witnesses expected Friday in their effort to prove to jurors the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun purchase form when he said he wasn’t “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” drugs.
Prosecutors are still planning to call a drug expert and an FBI chemist, capping a week that has been largely dedicated to highlighting the seriousness of his drug problem through highly personal and sometimes salacious testimony.
Hunter Biden been charged with three felonies: 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.
The widow of Hunter Biden’s brother told jurors in his federal gun trial Thursday about the moment she found the revolver in his truck, describing how she put it into a leather pouch, stuffed it into a shopping bag and tossed it in a trash can outside a market near her home.
“I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them,” she testified about finding the gun and ammunition in the vehicle’s console in October 2018. “I didn’t want him to hurt himself, and I didn’t want my kids to find it and hurt themselves.”
The purchase of the Colt revolver by Hunter Biden — and Hallie Biden’s frenzied disposal of it — are the fulcrum of the case against him.
Hunter Biden was supposed to have avoided prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year.
He was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/6/1247300