WILMINGTON, Del. — Federal prosecutors in the trial of Hunter Biden on weapons charges have suggested they could rest their case as soon as the close of Thursday’s proceedings — with the first son’s sister-in-law-turned lover Hallie Biden still waiting to take the witness stand.
Hallie, the widow of Hunter’s late brother, Beau, is expected to provide more details of her ex-boyfriend’s drug habit — and give her side of what happened on Oct. 23, 2018, when she threw the .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver Hunter had bought 11 days earlier into the garbage outside a Wilmington supermarket.
Before Hallie is called to testify, however, Thursday’s proceedings will pick up with the defense cross-examination of Gordon Cleveland, who sold the weapon to Hunter.
Cleveland, who left his part-time gig at StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in 2021 and currently works as a trash truck driver, testified for about 90 minutes Wednesday.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell had suggested that Cleveland pushed his client into buying the weapon — and insinuated that the form on which Hunter claimed not to have a drug problem had been tampered with after the fact.
Despite withering questioning from Lowell, Cleveland managed to hold his own by deploying sharp and precise recollections of the events that unfolded nearly six years ago.
“No, you got the sequence mixed up,” Cleveland pushed back on Lowell at one point. He also drew rare laughs from the courtroom with some of his quips during his back-and-forth with the defense.
Near the end of Wednesday’s proceedings, trial judge Maryellen Noreika said she wanted to hold the jury later than scheduled in order to wrap up Cleveland’s testimony.
After a sidebar requested by Lowell, Noreika agreed to call it a day and bring back Cleveland to start the day Thursday.
After the jury was escorted out of the courtroom, prosecutor Derek Hines sought a witness list from Lowell, revealing that there were six more witnesses the government intended to call.
Hines added that the remaining witnesses would be dealt with quickly and that it was “possible” the prosecution will rest its case soon.
In addition to Hallie Biden, the remaining government witnesses include two Delaware State Police officers who were responded to a report that Hunter’s gun was missing; the trash scavenger who found the weapon and turned it in; a DEA special agent who will testify about lingo used in drug deals; and a forensic chemist to discuss cocaine purportedly found on the gun pouch.
In addition to Cleveland, jurors have also heard from Hunter’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, his old flame Zoe Kestan, and FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to three criminal charges over his allegedly illegal purchase of a revolver while addicted to crack cocaine.
