Hunter Biden’s lawyer tries to throw his exes under the bus: Attorney says Hallie was ‘incredibly stupid’ throwing out gun, accuses stripper of lying and slams ‘cruel’ Naomi questions as jury begins deliberations
Hunter Biden‘s lawyer turned on the president’s son’s exes and accused prosecutors of being ‘cruel’ to his daughter Naomi in extraordinary closing arguments in his federal gun trial on Monday.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter’s brother’s widow and ex Hallie Biden did something ‘incredibly stupid’ when she threw his gun in the trash at a grocery store in 2016.
He also tried to undercut the testimony of his former stripper girlfriend Zoe Kestan, by claiming she had no evidence he was using drugs when they were together and accused her of lying when she said he ‘smoked crack every 20 minutes’.
‘No pipes, no scales, no drugs, not even alcohol,’ he said of Kestan’s testimony before the jury was sent out for deliberations. They were sent home for the day after an hour after failing to reach a verdict.
The 54-year-old Hunter’s fate is now in the hands of 12 of his peers who will decide if he becomes the first son of a sitting president to be a convicted felon.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter’s brother’s widow and ex Hallie Biden did something ‘incredibly stupid’ when she threw his gun in the trash at a grocery store in 2016
He faces a maximum of up to 25 years in prison for each of the three federal firearms charges he is facing.
In a highly-charged day in court, Ashley Biden ran out in tears and the prosecutors disclosed bombshell text messages Hunter sent to a drug dealer around the time he bought the Colt Cobra revolver at the center of the case.
Hunter was again joined by a large support group of family members including first lady Jill Biden and uncle Jim Biden – who has been scrutinized for allegedly using Joe’s name in business deals.
In his closing statement, Lowell accused prosecutors of asking Hunter’s daughter Naomi if she used drugs to fill ‘gaping holes’ in their case.
He banged his fist on the lectern and glared at the opposing side as he delivered the stark message.
Prosecutor Derek Hines rejected defense suggestions that questioning of Naomi, 30, earlier in the trial ‘extraordinarily cruel’.
Hallie Biden, daughter in-law of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs from the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building after testifying in the trial of Hunter Biden on June 06, 2024
Naomi Biden departs from federal court in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday, June 7, 2024 after giving evidence in the trial of her father Hunter Biden
Defense attorney Lowell also tried to undercut the testimony of his former stripper girlfriend Zoe Kestan, by claiming she had no evidence he was using drugs when they were together and accused her of lying when she said he ‘smoked crack every 20 minutes’.
‘No pipes, no scales, no drugs, not even alcohol,’ he said of Kestan’s testimony before the jury was sent out for deliberations
Hines said: ‘Who called the defendant’s daughter as a witness in this case? Not us.’
Naomi was called by the defense and then cross-examined by the prosecution.
Hines said several things Lowell had said in his closing arguments were ‘completely unfair’.
That also included suggesting that the jury has Hunter Biden’s life in its hands.
The three charges the jury are considering are lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on an application by saying he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
The defense argued that Hallie had done something ‘incredibly stupid’ on October 23rd, 2018.
Hallie threw out the gun in a dumpster behind a grocery store when she discovered it.
Lowell went on to say that she may have thrown it out ‘for love’ of Hunter.
Hallie and Hunter engaged in a romantic relationship after the death of his brother Beau, and used drugs together.
Hunter Biden arrives to federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, Monday, June 10, 2024, in Wilmington, Del.
First lady Jill Biden departs from federal court Monday, June 10, 2024
Joe Biden’s brother James Biden departs from federal court Monday, June 10, 2024, in Wilmington, Del
Naomi Biden (C), daughter of Hunter Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 07, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware
Lowell also accused DEA agent Joshua Romig of trumping up evidence that Hunter routinely withdrew thousands of dollars in cash as an ‘inference of drug use’, while admitting that the money ‘absolutely can be’ used for other purchases.
He said Romig and prosecutors were ‘making a suspicion or conjecture and hoping you won’t notice the difference.’
Lowell left open the possibility that Hunter had relapsed in the fall of 2018 into his alcohol addiction, but said this did not mean he was back using crack.
He said that the StarQuest Shooters gun store salesman Cleveland was careful who he sold guns to, and that ‘on that day Mr. Biden did not exhibit any of the things’ that would have given him pause when selling, including glassy eyes, smelling of drugs or alcohol, or apparent inebriation.
The defense lawyer pointed out that after Hallie ‘did something incredibly stupid’ by throwing Hunter’s gun in a public trash can, Hunter told her to call the police, cooperated with the investigation, and was treated as a victim not a perpetrator.
‘Hunter has not asked anyone to excuse or forgive him,’ Lowell said, but added that it was ‘unfair’ to ‘take Hunter’s words about being an addict out of context’.
Ashley Biden, left, departs from federal court, Monday, June 10, 2024, in Wilmington, Del
A picture of the gun submitted in evidence in the trial
After the jury went out Hunter exited arm-in-arm with his wife Melissa.
Lowell told the jury it was ‘time to end this case’.
He criticized the prosecution for treating incidents in Hunter’s four years of addiction ‘like an accordion’, squeezing together distant events to make them seem like they happened in a short space of time.
‘They take various years, make a continuum, then shrink it down,’ he said.
Lowell argued Hunter had plenty of time between his debauchery in early 2018 and his gun purchase in October to get sober, and that he did so.
He likened the prosecutors to magicians, playing a sleight of hand with the evidence by distracting the jury with one set of facts while attempting to hide inconvenient information.
Lowell said there was ‘nothing’ in Hunter’s book about drugs between his stay in Los Angeles in the first half of 2018, and his gun purchase in October – though excerpts quoted by Wise earlier seemed to contradict that claim.
He poured cold water on Kestan’s testimony, saying that she didn’t have actual photos of Hunter with crack pipes or drugs in September of 2018, when she said he was smoking crack every 20 minutes, while she did have that evidence for earlier months.
‘In the critical time you have to believe Zoe Kestan… what does she not have?’ he said.
He alluded to the six hours over three meetings she had with prosecutors ‘to prepare, or should I say rehearse’ her testimony – prompting an objection from Hines.
‘She wouldn’t go out with Hunter until she found out who he was,’ Lowell added, painting her as a gold-digger who might lie on the stand.
Turning to Hallie, Lowell reminded the jury of Hallie’s confusion and poor recollection during his cross-examination of her, about where she allegedly found drugs and paraphernalia in Hunter’s car on October 23 2018.
‘She could remember what the prosecutors asked her. Not so much other things,’ he said, wryly.
He also claimed there was reasonable doubt over Hunter’s 4am October 16 visit to a 7-Eleven, evidenced by geolocated videos he texted, recovered by investigators.
Media gather outside the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building United States Courthouse, Friday, June 7, 2024
‘They want to give you the inference that what he was doing was buying drugs at the 7-Eleven, rather than buying a cup of coffee waiting for Hallie,’ Lowell said, adding that believing it was to meet a dealer was ‘suspicion or conjecture’, not fact.
He explained away Hunter’s texts to Hallie about meeting a dealer, saying: ‘He wasn’t thinking five years later he’d be sitting in a courtroom trying to explain the way they talked to each other.’
His half-sister Ashley exited early during the prosecutor’s closing statement, crying – not for the first time during the trial.
Hunter’s aunt Valerie Owens, with whom he is very close, wore dark sunglasses inside that concealed any tears.
Getting the last word in the arguments, prosecutor Derek Hines turned the case on its head, listing all the testimony he said the jury would have to believe were lies in order to acquit the defendant.
Hines said Hunter would have had to have been lying in his text messages to Hallie that he was meeting a dealer and ‘smoking crack’ in the two days after he bought the gun.
Hunter would have had to have been lying in his own book, in which he said he ‘relapsed’ in September 2018 and continued using drugs in October.
The gun store where Hunter Biden bought a revolver
A picture submitted as evidence in the trial
An image submitted as evidence shows bottles of booze all over a table
More evidence submitted by the prosecution
The jury would need to believe Hunter’s ex-lover and brother’s widow, Hallie Biden, was lying when she said she found drug detritus and paraphernalia in Hunter’s truck on October 23.
Hines said that if Hunter Biden had simply been an addict struggling with personal problems ‘we would not be here in this courtroom.’
Hunter instead is on trial for buying a gun and lying about being a drug addict when he did so, Hines said.
Hines told the jury the evidence clearly shows Hunter Biden had a pattern of illegal drug use at the time he bought the gun.
Prosecutors don’t have to prove Hunter used drugs on the day he bought the gun or that he was under the influence while in the gun store, he said.
Wise focused on Kestan’s testimony, saying that based on her description of Hunter smoking crack every 20 minutes weeks before he bought the gun, ‘you could convict based on those facts alone.’
They also highlighted the $150,000 Hunter pulled from ATMs during the three months from September through November 2018, arguing that at least some of it was spent on drugs.
