WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend testified Wednesday in his gun trial that crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia were found on him, as prosecutors sought to prove he still had a drug problem when he filled out a form to purchase a firearm.
The courtroom fell mute when Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter for 20 years, entered. She testified that she discovered her husband was using drugs on July 3, 2015, the day after their anniversary, when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on their porch. When she confronted him, “he admitted to smoking crack,” she said.
The trial quickly devolved into a highly personal and detailed tour of Hunter Biden’s mistakes and drug use. The proceedings come ahead of the 2024 presidential election, and allies worry about the implications for the president, who is deeply concerned about the health and continued abstinence of his only living son. Prosecutors argue that the testimony is necessary to show Hunter Biden’s state of mind when he purchased the gun.
Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies in connection with the purchase of a gun in October 2018. He is accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making false statements on the application by claiming he does not use drugs, and illegally possessing the gun for 11 days.
Even before she found the drugs, Buhle suspected that Hunter was using drugs because he had previously been discharged from the Navy after testing positive for cocaine.
“I was definitely worried and scared,” she said. They have three children and divorced in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much, according to her memoir, “If We Break,” which describes the end of their marriage.
Buhle, who was subpoenaed, sat on the witness stand for about 20 minutes. She remained composed but seemed upset as she recounted how she searched his car for drugs about a dozen times each time the children drove it.
“Have you ever seen Hunter take drugs?” asked defense attorney Abbe Lowell Buhle.
“No,” she replied.
Prosecutor Leo Wise then asked Buhle how she knew that Hunter was taking drugs.
“He told me,” she said.
Prosecutors also called Zoe Kesten, who testified under immunity and factually that she met Hunter Biden in December 2017 at a New York strip club where she worked. During a private session, he pulled out a pipe and began smoking what she thought was crack.
Jurors were also shown a photo of Hunter shirtless in a shared bubble bath, but he was not seen in the other photos, which showed a crack pipe in a hotel bathroom.
“He was incredibly charming, charismatic and friendly, and I felt really safe around him,” she said. “I remember nothing changing after he smoked it. He was still the same charming person.”
She spent the next five days with him in his hotel, where he regularly smoked crack. After he left, they met on weekends.
Kesten described to jurors when she saw him using drugs, buying drugs, talking about drugs or possessing drug paraphernalia. Prosecutors asked her where he kept his drugs and pipes, and she testified he kept them in baggies and other places, such as sunglasses cases.
Prosecutors also showed jurors dozens of pages of Hunter Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which he wrote in 2021 after getting sober. They also heard lengthy audio clips from the book, which traces his descent into addiction after the 2015 cancer death of his brother Beau Biden and covers the period in which he purchased the gun, although the weapon is not specifically mentioned.
Lowell said Hunter Biden’s state of mind was different when he wrote the book than when he bought the gun, when he didn’t believe he was addicted. And prosecutors will have to prove he had a drug problem when he filled out the document at the time of purchase.
An FBI agent, Erika Jensen, testified about her task of proving that Hunter Biden had a drug problem when he bought the gun in October 2018. Lowell examined a vast number of Hunter’s text messages to prove that there were few messages in the weeks before the gun purchase that mentioned seeking or using drugs. He also raised questions about how the FBI could prove that Hunter Biden was forthright with his family when he sent text messages about seeking or using drugs.
And he pointed to several liquor store purchases in October 2018, the month Hunter Biden bought the gun. Lowell has suggested that references to “relapse” in his memoir refer to alcohol abuse, not drug use.
The trial in Delaware comes after a settlement with prosecutors that could have settled the gun case and a separate tax case in California and avoided the spectacle of a trial fell through. Hunter Biden has since pleaded not guilty, saying he was unfairly targeted by the Justice Department after Republicans criticized the now-voided settlement as a favor deal for the Democratic president’s son.
The 12-member panel heard opening statements Tuesday and testimony from Jensen, who read several personal messages from Hunter Biden, including some from a laptop he left at a repair shop in Delaware and never picked up.
In 2020, the content made its way to Republicans and was publicly leaked, revealing some very personal messages about his work and life. He has since sued over the leaked information.
Prosecutors asked if there was any evidence that the laptop had been tampered with, and Jensen said no. However, when asked by Lowell, she acknowledged that there was no way to verify that the laptop had been tampered with.
In addition, jurors are also expected to hear from the president’s brother, James Biden, who is very close to Hunter and has helped his nephew through rehab stints in the past. They will also hear details about how Beau Biden’s widow, Hallie Biden, became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter after her husband’s death.
Hallie took the gun from Hunter and threw it in the trash at a nearby supermarket, fearing what he might do with it. The gun was later found by someone collecting cans and eventually turned over to police.
First Lady Jill Biden supported Hunter in court for the third consecutive day before traveling to France to meet with President Joe Biden, who was in Europe to mark the anniversary of D-Day.
If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison. However, first-time offenders do not even come close to the maximum sentence and it is unclear whether the judge would sentence him to prison.
The trial comes shortly after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was convicted in New York City on 34 felonies. The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how much the courts have been at the center of the 2024 election campaign.
Hunter Biden will also face trial in California in September for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.
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Long reported from Washington.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.
