Hunter Biden’s Drug Use Exposed in Court: 'Every 20 Minutes or So'
Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend revealed in court that he was abusing crack cocaine “every 20 minutes or so” when they first met. The son of the US president is currently on trial in Wilmington, Delaware, facing charges related to firearm possession while allegedly using drugs.
Zoe Kestan, who met Biden, 54, during a private dance at a New York gentleman’s club, testified about his frequent cash withdrawals for drug purchases. This trial marks the first criminal proceedings against a sitting president’s son.
Key Family Players at Hunter Biden's Gun Trial
Hunter Biden stands accused of lying on federal paperwork, claiming he was not a drug user to buy a revolver and ammunition from a Wilmington gun shop on October 12, 2018. Additionally, he is charged with illegally possessing the gun for 11 days. If convicted on all three federal counts, Biden could face up to 25 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty, with his defense arguing that he was in recovery when he purchased the weapon.
The prosecution is set to rest its case on Thursday after presenting six more witnesses, including Hallie Biden, Hunter’s former partner and widow of his brother, and various law enforcement officials and a forensic expert. Earlier testimony came from Gordon Cleveland, the gun store employee who sold Biden the firearm in 2018. Cleveland stated he always instructed customers to “truthfully” complete the form. The prosecution aims to prove Hunter Biden, who has penned a memoir about his drug addiction, was indeed using crack cocaine at the time of the purchase.
In opening remarks, Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, contended that the revolver purchase was an impulsive decision spurred by Cleveland’s aggressive sales tactics. Cleveland, known for his sales prowess, denied upselling Biden, asserting that Biden initiated the conversation about buying a gun.
First Lady Jill Biden attended court on Wednesday, sitting behind Hunter alongside his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and a Secret Service agent. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden was in France for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
FBI agent Erika Jensen, Zoe Kestan, and Hunter’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, also testified. Kestan described Hunter Biden’s drug use during their relationship, noting that he began smoking crack “within 10 minutes” of their first meeting and continued this pattern in luxury hotels across several states. She provided images of crack pipes allegedly taken in the rooms they shared and mentioned seeing him smoking crack in Malibu in September 2018, a month before he purchased the gun.
Buhle, who was married to Hunter from 1993 to 2017, testified about discovering his drug use in 2015. She described his personality changes and reluctance to seek rehab. However, when asked if she saw him using drugs in 2018, she said, “No.”
FBI agent Jensen detailed text messages found on a laptop left by Hunter at a Delaware repair shop. In one text, sent the day after the gun purchase, he told Hallie Biden he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack.” His lawyers argued these texts were lies to avoid Hallie.
On Thursday, the court will hear about Hallie Biden’s own struggle with crack addiction during her relationship with Hunter. She threw his gun into a grocery store bin 11 days after he bought it, worried about his actions.
The laptop, a focal point of the 2020 election, contained explicit images and messages about Hunter’s business activities. Initially dismissed as Russian disinformation by Joe Biden, the laptop was later confirmed as genuine by the FBI. The Bidens have denied any wrongdoing in their international business dealings, currently under a Republican impeachment investigation. Hunter also faces a California trial in September for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.
