Hunter Biden gun trial opening statements

Prosecutors played audio clips from Hunter Biden reading his autobiography saying that prior to a California trip in 2019, he had been going through a four year-period of addiction.

Citing cash withdrawals, FBI agent Erika Jensen placed the time of Hunter’s trip to California in late April 2019.  

Hunter purchased the firearm – the root of the charges against him – in October 2018. In his opening statement, defense attorney Abbe Lowell said prosecutors haven’t shown evidence he was a drug user at the time.  

Many of the jurors were taking notes attentively during the opening statements in Hunter Biden’s trial.   

One juror appeared to become emotional during defense attorney Abbe Lowell’s opening statements. The juror reached for tissues in her bag and dabbed her eyes and her nose several times. It’s unclear what prompted the reaction.  

Lowell was 35 minutes into his statement, and had explained how despite claims from prosecutors, the evidence doesn’t show Hunter Biden was using drugs the day he bought the gun. Lowell was discussing the circumstances of the tumultuous days when Hallie Biden found the gun and threw it in a trash can outside a supermarket.   

As Lowell finished his argument that the only fair verdict would be not guilty, showing the charges and emphasizing how the government must prove Hunter Biden “knowingly” violated the law, the juror folded her arms, holding her tissues.  

As she stood to leave for the morning break the juror took a deep breath and walked out slowly. 

Prosecutors called their first witness, FBI special agent Erika Jensen.  

Jensen will be used by the prosecutors to introduce much of the digital evidence in this case, including embarrassing and intensely personal messages and images from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell told the jury that the pouch prosecutors say carried his gun and had cocaine on it was actually used by Hallie Biden.  

Lowell said Hallie Biden put Hunter Biden’s gun in the pouch before throwing the gun away near a grocery store. Five years later, Lowell said, investigators tested a substance they say was on the pouch. But, Lowell said, investigators didn’t test for fingerprints.  

Judge Maryellen Noreika provided the jury with instructions for the trial of Hunter Biden on Monday.

The instructions outlined a variety of points for jurors to follow and keep in mind for the trial including; the role of the jury, conduct of the jury, questions by jurors and note taking.

The instructions said that the court will not provide jurors with a written account of testimony, but they are allowed to take notes.

View the full jury instructions:

Abbe Lowell arrives to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 4, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said that while prosecutors highlighted Hunter Biden’s cash withdrawals, the president’s son often used cash for various things at that time, including for rehab.   

Hunter Biden, who had no credit card at the time, according to Lowell, bought the firearm at the center of the case with cash.  

Prosecutors said they would use text messages and the cash withdraws to prove Hunter Biden was using drugs.

The defense is suggesting to the jury that Hunter Biden didn’t have much interest in buying a gun, trying to undermine prosecutors’ claims that he knowingly lied to the gun dealers.

The gun salesman “led Hunter” to the guns while he was browsing other items and “selected a handgun” for him, Lowell said. 

The salesman, Gordon Cleveland, has referred to himself as a “whale hunter,” Lowell told jurors.  

Hunter was only in the area to buy a new phone from the AT&T store across the street, Lowell added.  

There haven’t been many references to former President Joe Biden in the defense’s opening statements. But Abbe Lowell did mention that Hunter Biden drove “his father’s black Cadillac” to the AT&T store on the day he bought the revolver. 

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell highlighted the word “knowingly” in the charges brought against Hunter Biden as he began his opening statement Tuesday.  

Lowell said that prosectors had “left out the word” and argued it is a key part of the case.  

In addition, he said, out of the 11 days Hunter Biden possessed the firearm, it was only out of a lockbox one day.  

“They have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter knowingly violated the law,” Lowell said, adding that what Hunter thought at the time was key.  

“Like literally millions of people in this country,” Hunter had struggled with addiction, Lowell said.  “He has abused alcohol since he was a teenager and drugs since he was an adult.”

During the trial of Hunter Biden on felony gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, both the prosecutors and defense will likely bring up the form he filled out to obtain the gun, Misty Marris, a defense and trial attorney, said on CNN.

One of the arguments the defense is going to present will be the language used in that form, Marris noted, and whether or not addict was actually defined and they’re going to focus on whether or not Hunter Biden saw himself as an addict at that time.

Marris added that Hunter Biden “had just finished an 11-day rehabilitation program. He had been living with a sober partner for a certain period of time.”

That will all likely be brought up during opening statements underway now and will be a key part of this trial.

In ending his opening statement, prosecutor Derek Hines said that while “addiction may not be a choice,” buying a gun is.  

Hunter Biden, Hines said, “isn’t charged with possessing drugs.” 

“We would not be here today if he was just a drug addict,” Hines said. 

The jury in the trial of Hunter Biden is pretty diverse, Linda Moreno, lawyer and jury consultant, said on CNN.

“About half of them are gun owners or have relatives in their families who own guns. About half of them or more have had a drug addiction touch their families. So this is important. This is a cross section of America and these are the kinds of jurors that are going to figure quite largely in the decision making,” Moreno said.

She added that the selection process by the court tried to ensure that jury members did not have strong opinions about three categories.

The court’s questions to jurors were about:

If any potential juror had strong opinions about any of those three categories would not be able to sit in fairness in this trial, Moreno noted.

Prosecutors are telling the jury about Hunter Biden’s memoir. They quoted him describing his “superpower of finding crack anywhere, anytime.”   

Turning to the jury, Hines said, “those are [Hunter’s] words.” 

Prosecutors also showed pictures of drugs to the jury that they got from Hunter’s electronic devices.  

Hines also showed text messaged allegedly from Hunter, admitting he was an addict.  

Prosecutors also played portions of the audiobook from Biden’s memoir in court, meaning the voice of the defendant was one of the first the jurors’ heard.

Hines said during his opening statement that Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden’s girlfriend who found and threw away his gun, was given a “grant of immunity” to testify in this case about her own past crack cocaine usage. The immunity requires Hallie Biden to testify “truthfully,” Hines said.  

Hines said Hallie Biden “had been a drug user too,” after Hunter “introduced” crack cocaine to her. Hines said Hallie Biden was clean when she found and threw out Hunter’s gun in October 2018. 

Prosecutor Derek Hines said the employee at the gun store where Hunter Biden purchased his revolver will testify about the form the president’s son filled out.  

Prosecutors showed the jury the ATF form that was filled out when Biden bought the gun.  

“He lied” on the ATF form, Hines told the jury.  

A Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver that Hunter Biden purchased from a gun store in Wilmington, Delaware, in October 2018.

Prosecutors showed a picture of Hunter Biden’s Colt revolver to the jury during their opening statements. They also showed images of the “hollow-point” ammunition that he bought that day.  

Biden’s lawyers previously said in filings that he never used or loaded the gun when he had it for 11 days before his girlfriend threw it away.  

Prosecutors began Tuesday with a fiery opening statement in the Hunter Biden trial.    

Prosecutor Derek Hines said that Biden was addicted to crack and lied on a federal form about his addiction when buying a gun.  

Biden “chose to illegally own a firearm,” Hines said.  

One juror was dismissed from the Hunter Biden trial Tuesday after they sent an email to the court explaining that they live an hour away from the court.  

The judge entered the courtroom at 8:55 a.m. ET and began by saying, “so, we lost a juror.” 

The judge said that the juror sent an email overnight explaining that she lives in Milford, Delaware, an hour away from the court and is unemployed.

CNN's Paula Reid holds up a sheet of paper with notes from inside federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday.

CNN’s Paula Reid, and every other journalist outside the Wilmington, Delaware, federal courthouse this week, must rely on handwritten notes delivered from inside to deliver real-time information to the public.

But the Biden trial is even more limited than Trump’s was.

CNN producer Kit Maher shared this note from inside court with CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Pérez after the jury had been selected on Monday in Wilmington, Delaware.

Tmp’s criminal trial in New York allowed no TV or audio, but reporters were at least able to use email and Slack to transmit to the outside world. Neither option is available here, so we’re relying on notes, runners or for reporters to come out of the courthouse in person.

Before opening statements, the judge rejected several attempts by Hunter Biden’s team to exclude some photos from the trial.

The judge will allow the photos to be shown to the jury because they contain “circumstantial evidence” of his drug use. One of the images shows a nude Hunter Biden, but the judge said it only shows him “from the chest up,” and is redacted below that, so it will be allowed. 

The court is still waiting for some jurors to show up, ahead of opening statements, which haven’t begun yet. 

Democrats are dismissing attempts to compare Hunter Biden’s trial with former President Donald Trump’s conviction last week.

“Hunter Biden is not running for president. President Donald Trump’s running for president,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He also noted that Democrats have not rushed to Hunter Biden’s defense in this criminal case, or alleged that the trial is a “sham” in the way that Republicans did with the Trump trial.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California agreed:

Pressed on how Hunter’s trial could affect his father’s chances in November, Garcia replied, “I think the president loves his son. And I think that we all agree that Hunter’s made some mistakes, and he’s got to be held accountable for those. I don’t think they have anything to do with his election for president.”

Attorney Abbe Lowell arrives at court on May 24, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Abbe Lowell, a seasoned defense attorney known for his aggressive style, is representing Hunter Biden during the trial and, through scores of court filings, has outlined several strategies his team may deploy against the prosecutors’ case.

One key issue could be over whether Hunter Biden viewed himself as an addict when he purchased the pistol. 

The defense wants to call an expert on addiction treatment to testify on addiction disorders and how individuals view their addiction. Prosecutors have fought against this testimony, arguing that it would be focused on the expert’s opinion around Biden’s mental state at the time of the alleged crime, which they say is not allowed in a criminal trial.

Another expert witness the defense team wants to call is a forensic chemist who could testify about the white residue found on Biden’s gun pouch, which prosecutors say tested positive for cocaine. 

Lowell has also raised issues with the employees at the gun store where Biden allegedly purchased the weapon.

One of the most notable pieces of evidence in the case will be messages from Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop, which has been at the center of a yearslong political saga.

Special counsel David Weiss said the material “is real” and will be an important part of his case, rebutting past claims from Biden that the laptop might be fake or even Russian disinformation.

Republican officials and right-wing outlets have seized on the laptop’s embarrassing emails and sexually explicit images to attack Hunter Biden, while his lawyer says the files were manipulated, and sued a repair shop owner who helped make the materials public. 

Judge Maryellen Noreika has said she’ll let Hunter Biden challenge the authenticity of any messages introduced at trial. Some of the texts contain gut-wrenching arguments between Hunter Biden and his loved ones about his sobriety. Others show him meeting up with drug dealers, including some just a few blocks from the Wilmington federal courthouse. 

Prosecutors plan to use the laptop to specifically support their claim that he was using illegal drugs when he bought the gun in 2018. Weiss has not addressed – and the case is not about – Republicans’ unproven allegation that emails from the laptop prove that Hunter Biden and his father were involved in corrupt foreign business deals. 

First lady Jill Biden arrives at federal court on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware.

First lady Jill Biden has also arrived at the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, where the second day of Hunter Biden’s trial is set to begin soon.

She was in the courtroom throughout the yesterday, sitting in the pews, a few feet from Hunter, as she celebrated her 73rd birthday.

Hunter Biden on January 10 in Washington, DC.

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. 

More context: 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, the agreement collapsed after a judge said she had “concerns” about the parties seemingly linking the tax plea agreement to resolving a felony gun charge. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss as special counsel the month after. 

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

Hunter Biden arrived to the Wilmington, Delaware, court for the second day of his trial, flanked by attorney Abbe Lowell.

Ashley Biden, Hunter Biden’s sister, arrived with attorney Kevin Morris.

The trial of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden will “absolutely not” interfere with the president’s ability to do his job, the White House said Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is “the President of the United States and he always puts the American people first and is capable of doing his job.”

Jean-Pierre said she had “nothing to share” when asked how the president was monitoring the proceedings and if he spoke to his son after the court concluded on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, Biden released a statement in support of his son, writing in part: “I am the president, but I am also a dad.”

Jean-Pierre said that outside of the statement, she didn’t “have anything else to share.”

Hunter Biden arrives at the federal court with his wife Melissa Cohen Biden on the opening day of his trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday.

Guns, addiction and politics hung over jury selection at Hunter Biden’s criminal trial Monday, with at-times emotional questioning that resulted in the selection of a diverse 12-member panel.

Throughout the day at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, prospective jurors were asked for their thoughts on the politicization of the criminal justice system, the state of US gun laws and their relationships with people struggling with addiction.

These topics will weigh heavily in the case against Hunter Biden, who made history Monday by becoming the first child of a sitting US president to go on trial. He pleaded not guilty to unlawfully buying and possessing a firearm while abusing drugs, which is against federal law. Hunter Biden is a recovering alcohol and crack cocaine addict.

Here are some takeaways from the first day of the long-awaited trial:

Read more about Monday’s takeaways

CNN’s Kit Maher and Macayla Cook contributed to this report.

This is a historic moment for the United States and the history of the presidency. No president has tried to run the country while watching his child go on trial.   

Over the decades, there have been plenty of examples of presidential family members getting in trouble. George H. W. Bush’s son faced civil penalties for violating banking laws while his father was serving in the White House. Jimmy Carter’s brother was scrutinized for his foreign lobbying. But nothing has sunk to the level of a criminal trial. 

CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said “There’s always somebody considered a black sheep in the presidential family,” but that Hunter Biden’s sprawling legal debacles “cut unusually close to the bone because it’s the president’s son.” 

“This trial is an albatross around President Biden’s neck and weighs very heavily on his psyche,” Brinkley said on Monday.