Name: Hallie Biden Testifies Hunter Biden Was Using Drugs During Period He Bought Gun
Uploaded: 2024-06-07T05:17:59.000Z
Description: WILMINGTON, Del.—Prosecutors called Hallie Biden to testify on June 6, the fourth day of Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial, detailing their shared romantic relationship, alleged mutual drug use, and messages purportedly showing Mr. Biden was using drugs around the time he bought the gun.

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

NTD Plus

News

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

Trump Announces National Garden of American Heroes Plans

Top Officer: Navy Funding Could Lapse by July

UK Health Secretary Quits Starmer’s Cabinet

Paul Greaney is an NTD news anchor and producer. Since joining the company in 2018, he has anchored the station’s flagship Evening News broadcast, launched the NTD Business show, and produced documentary reports on pointed issues. 

The highlight of Paul’s time in the field was his coverage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Paul Greaney

Chinese Leader Hates It When ‘Human Rights’ Is Raised: Col. Grant Newsham on Trump’s China Visit

Man Convicted of $1 Billion Medicare Fraud in Florida

Retail Sales Rose for 3rd Straight Month in April

Former Spirit Airlines Workers Sue for Pay, Benefits

Bessent: China Needs Hormuz Strait Open More Than US

Victoria Friedman is a UK-based reporter covering a wide range of national stories.

Victoria Friedman

World News

Middle East

Israel–Hamas War

Netanyahu Considers Suing New York Times Over Column Alleging Rape of Palestinian Prisoners

Russia Unleashes Heaviest Wartime Drone Assault on Ukraine

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 14)

Kevin Hogan is an NTD News data reporter and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Kevin covers breaking news, as well as U.S. and global current events. He conveys the news through data visualizations and investigates pressing issues.

Kevin Hogan

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 11)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 5)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 4)

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

WILMINGTON, Del.—Prosecutors called Hallie Biden to testify on June 6, the fourth day of Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial, detailing their shared romantic relationship, alleged mutual drug use, and messages purportedly showing Mr. Biden was using drugs around the time he bought the gun.

Ms. Biden is the widow of Mr. Biden’s deceased brother, Beau, who died from cancer in 2015. Mr. Biden previously said he succumbed to crack cocaine addiction after his brother’s death, and he began seeing his sister-in-law romantically around the same time.

She testified to prosecutors that Mr. Biden sent her messages in the days after the gun sale on Oct. 12, 2018. She alleges that Mr. Biden said he was "waiting for a dealer named Mookie" in one and he was "sleeping on a car smoking crack" in another.

She also alleges that Mr. Biden encouraged her to try crack cocaine, making her “embarrassed and ashamed.” The “terrible experience” led to her own addiction to the drug, Ms. Biden testified. She also described messages that he allegedly sent

Mr. Biden is facing three felony charges from the 2018 firearm purchase. Authorities accuse him of lying to the federally licensed gun store by illegally claiming on his application that he was not a drug user at the time and then unlawfully possessing the gun for 11 days.

Ms. Biden testified that she found the gun in the center console of Mr. Biden’s car and threw it away out of concern for his mental health. She said that Mr. Biden asked her to file a police report on the gun after she threw it in a public garbage can, leading to police locating the man who retrieved it from the trash.
<h2>Drug Abuse</h2>
Ms. Biden has known Mr. Biden since middle school, she said, and that the two began a romantic relationship in late 2015 after the death of her husband. She soon discovered Mr. Biden’s drug use, she alleges, but the two went a step further and rented a house in Annapolis together from the fall of 2017 until July 2018.

She told prosecutors that she saw Mr. Biden using crack cocaine at their shared residence, and at times, his demeanor and behavior became agitated and high-strung, but in other situations, he was “functioning” while on the substance.

Mr. Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, has previously argued that there’s no such thing as a functioning crack cocaine addict, suggesting that Mr. Biden would have been unable to apply for and purchase the gun if he had been addicted to the drug at the time.

Prosecutors sought to align Ms. Biden’s testimony with two of his other former partners—ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan—who both alleged the First Son was often capable of high-functioning behavior while intoxicated from crack cocaine.

Ms. Kestan testified on June 5 that Mr. Biden at times purchased “ping-pong ball-sized crack rocks.” Prosecutors asked Ms. Biden on June 6 if she had ever seen him with the drug in that size.

She alleged that Mr. Biden sometimes had “multiple ping pong-sized balls” of crack in his possession, including others roughly the size of marbles.

While Ms. Biden said she succumbed to addiction after trying the drug, she eventually became clean. However, she alleges that Mr. Biden asked her, “Don’t you want your crack back?” sometime following the gun purchase in October 2018, after she had quit the drug.

“Do you want me to relapse?” She remembers asking Mr. Biden after receiving his message.

Ms. Biden alleges that he replied, “For a long time.”
<h2>Finding the Gun</h2>
She also detailed the day she found the gun on Oct. 23, 2018, while looking in the center console of Mr. Biden’s car.

Ms. Biden testified that she panicked after finding the firearm and immediately put it in a leather pouch she allegedly had seen Mr. Biden use for drugs in the past. Prosecutors showed video surveillance footage of Ms. Biden putting the leather pouch in a garbage can outside a grocery store.

“Did you take that from me?” she recalled Mr. Biden asking her in a text later that day.

Ms. Biden also testified that on Oct. 15, 2018, three days after the gun purchase, she sent a text message to Mr. Biden saying, "I'm afraid you're going to die."

Mr. Biden allegedly responded, "What one thing have you done to help me get sober?"

During cross-examination, Mr. Lowell probed Ms. Biden’s memory of several text messages used as evidence of Mr. Biden’s alleged ongoing drug addiction, suggesting that some of the claims, such as him smoking crack on top of a car the day after the gun sale, could be lies or over exaggerations.

Mr. Biden is facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted in the federal gun case, although first-time offenders typically receive less than the maximum sentence. It is also unclear if the judge will give him prison time.

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/hallie-biden-testifies-hunter-biden-was-using-drugs-during-period-he-bought-gun-5663993">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Latest

Videos

Politics

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

biden

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

Executive Branch

Courts

Hunter Biden

Jacob Burg reports on the state of Florida for The Epoch Times. He covers a variety of topics including crime, politics, science, education, wildlife, family issues, and features. He previously wrote about sports, politics, and breaking news for the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Jacob Burg

Stacy Robinson is a reporter for The Epoch Times.

Stacy Robinson

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.