Wilmington, Del. — On the fourth day of Hunter Biden’s gun trial, Hallie Biden testified that she found crack-cocaine remnants in his car alongside the handgun she threw out six years ago for fear of her children finding it and hurting themselves.
Hallie, the widow of President Joe Biden’s late son Beau who had a romantic relationship with Hunter, walked the prosecution through October 23, 2018 — the day she found Hunter’s gun in his truck. The younger Biden’s ex-girlfriend told the court she went to clean his car “hoping we could help him start anew and deal with stuff” before discovering the revolver and ammunition alongside “trash, clothes, some remnants of crack,” and other “paraphernalia.”
At that moment, Hallie panicked and decided to get rid of the gun and ammo to prevent Hunter and her children from getting hurt, explaining that she worried Hunter may have been suicidal. She then put the items in a pouch, placed the pouch in a bag and threw it in a trash can behind a grocery store near her Wilmington house.
The gun ultimately ended up in FBI custody after a man searching for cans found it in the garbage can and reported it to the police. The pouch tested positive for cocaine residue.
Federal prosecutor Leo Wise introduced surveillance camera footage of the incident to the jury, showing Hallie discarding the weapon that day. She said she couldn’t remember exactly what she did after throwing the bag away.
“I was just so flustered from the whole thing,” she testified. “I realize it was a stupid idea now, but I was just panicking.”
Not able to find the gun, Hunter urged Hallie to file a police report because the firearm was under his name. Asked by Hunter to search for the gun, she frantically looked through the trash can but couldn’t find it. Eventually, she went inside the grocery store and filed a police report with an employee there.
At some point, he discovered that she disposed of the gun and was livid as a result, according to her Thursday testimony. “I did not tell him,” she said, adding that “he was very angry with me” when he found out. “I was just going to pretend like it wasn’t me.”
Hallie also testified about Hunter’s frequent drug use, saying she first discovered his addiction when they first began their relationship. She found some crack in her Delaware home while he was staying there and had to “google” the narcotic because she didn’t know what it was. Hunter admitted he was using after Hallie confronted him.
She personally witnessed him smoke crack from the fall of 2017 to July 2018, and even got addicted herself after Hunter introduced her to the drug. She said she was ashamed of her behavior during that time in her life.
During the defense’s cross-examination, Hallie conceded that she didn’t see him using drugs in October 2018 — the month he purchased the gun. She struggled to recall specifics during this portion of the trial, as Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell tried casting doubts on her credibility.
The prosecution’s case hinges on proving that Hunter was an active drug addict when he said otherwise on a federal gun-purchase background-check form.
Hunter is facing two charges related to his allegedly lying about his drug addiction on a background-check form, and he faces a third charge for allegedly possessing the firearm while addicted to crack cocaine. Hunter pleaded not guilty to the charges last year and faces up to 25 years in prison.
Prior to Hallie’s testimony, gun salesman Gordon Cleveland retook the stand, telling his first-hand account of Hunter’s transaction on October 12, 2018. Cleveland testified there was no indication that Hunter exhibited signs of drug or alcohol use while he was in the store.