Hunter Biden’s defense team, led by attorney Abbe Lowell, decided against the potentially risky move of having Hunter testify. After considering the option on Friday, Lowell ultimately chose not to call any witnesses on Monday. This decision came after two gun-store employees and Hunter’s daughter Naomi testified on his behalf the previous Friday, reports National Review. 

On Friday, Hunter’s uncle and business partner, James Biden, was also expected to testify but did not take the stand following Naomi’s contentious testimony that did not go so well for her father. James Biden, who, alongside Hunter, engaged in lucrative business dealings with the Chinese conglomerate CEFC, was present in the courtroom on Monday. House Republicans have accused Hunter and James of lying to Congress about their overseas dealings and have referred them to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

Naomi Biden’s testimony, intended to bolster the defense, went off track under cross-examination. Despite her initial claim that her father was “the clearest” she had seen him in years during their time together in Los Angeles in August 2018, prosecutor Leo Wise undermined her credibility by introducing text messages. These messages, sent in the days immediately following the gun purchase, depicted Hunter as unresponsive and erratic, contradicting Naomi’s portrayal.

Special counsel David Weiss and his team of prosecutors are pursuing three federal gun charges against Hunter Biden. Two charges are for allegedly lying about his drug addiction on a federal gun-purchase background-check form, and a third for allegedly possessing the firearm while addicted to crack cocaine. Hunter has pleaded not guilty to the charges and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, although he is likely to receive a lighter sentence as a first-time, non-violent offender.

Prosecutors have maintained throughout the trial that Hunter was an active crack-cocaine addict when he falsely claimed otherwise on the background-check form. They have presented “overwhelming” evidence, including text messages, images, and videos from Hunter’s abandoned laptop. The prosecution also relied on Hunter’s own memoir, which details his struggles with addiction.

Hunter had the Colt Cobra revolver in his possession for eleven days after purchasing it at StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington in October 2018. His ex-girlfriend and sister-in-law, Hallie Biden, eventually found the gun and threw it into a trash can at a nearby grocery store, fearing Hunter might harm himself. Hallie testified that she also discovered remnants of crack cocaine in Hunter’s car when she found the firearm.

Hallie’s testimony was supported by two other women who had romantic relationships with Hunter and testified that he was using crack cocaine around the time of the gun purchase.

The prosecution also called three expert witnesses: an FBI special agent, an FBI chemist, and a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent. Prosecutor Derek Hines and FBI agent Erica Jensen reviewed a wealth of texts, photos, videos, bank records, and memoir excerpts to establish Hunter’s pattern of behavior and drug use. The FBI chemist confirmed that the pouch containing Hunter’s gun tested positive for cocaine, while the DEA agent corroborated the connection between the drugs, drug paraphernalia, and coded language linked to Hunter’s crack-cocaine habit.

Before Naomi’s testimony, gun salesman Jason Turner and gun-store owner Ron Palimere provided brief testimonies. Turner, who handled Hunter’s background check, never interacted with him directly. Palimere only recalled granting permission for gun salesman Gordon Cleveland to use Hunter’s passport as ID for the gun sale, corroborating Cleveland’s testimony.

Cleveland, a part-time salesman and full-time garbage-truck driver, testified that Hunter had clearly indicated his intent to purchase a firearm and selected the items he bought, countering Lowell’s claims that Cleveland had pressured Hunter into the purchase.