WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend, Hallie Biden, took the stand in the first son’s criminal trial on Thursday, walking the jury through the ex-couple's use of crack cocaine and events surrounding the disappearance of Hunter’s Cobra Colt .38.
"It was a terrible experience I went through, and I was embarrassed and ashamed. … I regret that period of my life," Hallie Biden told the court on Thursday about her use of crack cocaine.
Hallie Biden is Beau Biden’s widow, and she began a relationship with Hunter Biden in 2015, following her husband’s death from brain cancer. The pair had an on-and-off romantic relationship until about 2019, with Hunter Biden living in her home in Wilmington as well as the pair sharing a home in Annapolis, Maryland.
She testified that Hunter Biden introduced her to crack cocaine in 2018, noting that she deeply regretted her dalliances with the addictive drug and has since become sober.
Hallie Biden is a key figure in the trial: She was the one to toss Hunter Biden’s gun in a trash can outside a Wilmington supermarket, which led to police involvement ahead of the indictment last year. She also provided further insight into his addiction to crack cocaine during the year he purchased the gun.
Prosecutors are working to prove that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled "No" when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased the gun from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.
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Hunter Biden’s defense team does not deny the first son’s issues with addiction, which are well documented in his memoir, "Beautiful Things," they instead argue that at the time of the gun purchase, Hunter did not consider himself a user of illegal substances.
Hunter Biden is facing charges of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
He pleaded not guilty in the case.
The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Hallie Biden was matter-of-fact in her responses to prosecutors on Thursday as they peppered her with questions about her relationship with Hunter Biden, how she learned Hunter Biden was a crack cocaine user, and the events surrounding her tossing out his gun in a panic in October 2018.
"I found [crack] and googled it because I didn’t know what it was," Hallie Biden told the court of the first time she saw the drug in her home. "[Hunter Biden] told me what it was, crack cocaine."
Hallie Biden, who testified under immunity, said she smoked crack cocaine and even accompanied Hunter Biden on drug deals. She became sober by August 2018.
The widowed mother of two was joined in court by her husband, John Hopkins Anning, who she married just last weekend.
She was grilled by both prosecutors and the defense team surrounding her discovery of Hunter Biden’s gun in the console of his truck on her property in Wilmington. She explained that after not seeing Hunter Biden for a while, he visited her home late Oct. 22, 2018, or early Oct. 23 and that he looked "tired, exhausted" and "could have been" on drugs.
After dropping her children off at school on the morning of Oct. 23, Hallie Biden went over to clean out Hunter Biden’s truck to rid it of any potential drugs or alcohol in an effort to help his sobriety.
"Aside from trash and clothes, I found remnants of crack cocaine, paraphernalia – oh, and the gun, obviously," she said.
Hallie Biden said she "panicked" when she found the gun, which was accompanied by a box of ammunition and a couple of loose bullets, and placed anything that appeared related to the firearm in a leather pouch she also found in the truck. She then placed the pouch in a shopping bag.
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"I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them," she said of the pistol and box of ammo. "I didn’t want him to hurt himself or [for] my kids to find it and hurt themselves."
She then drove to a nearby grocery store, called Janssen’s Market, and tossed the gun in a trash can located outside the store. The court was presented with surveillance footage of her dropping the bag containing the pouch and gun into the receptacle.
She told the court that she was "flustered" after discovering the firearm and now realizes it was a "stupid idea" that she made when she "panicked."
Hallie Biden walked the court through her messages and phone calls with Hunter Biden after she disposed of the gun.
"I was just going to pretend like it wasn’t me," she said, before Hunter Biden discovered his firearm was missing and texted her: "Did you take that from me?"
The first son apparently became angry with her actions regarding the gun, demanding she return to the market and "look for it." She said that after her attempts to locate the pistol in the trash can, Hunter Biden told her to contact police and file a report.
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The jury was presented with video footage of her outside the market searching for the gun.
Hallie Biden’s testimony, when questioned by defense attorney Abbe Lowell, became confusing Thursday as he repeatedly questioned her on the timeline of events that day. Hallie Biden repeatedly used the phrase "I don’t recall," and even remarked she was "confused" by his questions.
"There are just some things you remember and many things you don’t," Lowell shot back.
In addition to the court hearing testimony from the first son’s sister-in-law-turned-romantic partner, jurors heard continued testimony in the morning from the gun shop employee who sold Hunter Biden the gun in 2018, Gordon Cleveland; Delaware State Police Trooper Joshua Marley, who responded to Janssen's Market when Hallie Biden filled a police report; former Delaware State Police Lt. Millard Greer; and an elderly man, Edward Banner, who discovered Hunter Biden’s discarded gun in the trash can.
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Banner, an 80-year-old man who is hard of hearing, elicited chuckles and laughter from the court for his responses to both prosecutor Derek Hines and Hunter Biden’s attorney, Lowell, on Thursday. The elderly man took the stand with the assistance of presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika, who hopped out of her leather chair to help seat Banner.
Hines and Lowell both questioned Banner from just feet away from the witness stand, as he could not hear them otherwise. Banner, a former employee of General Motors and a Navy veteran, recounted to the court that he has long gone through trash bins looking for materials to recycle in an effort to make money – "especially now with gas prices," he quipped.
Surveillance footage was played in court that showed Banner retrieving the gun from the trash can outside of Janssen's Market. He said he remembered finding the gun, though not the exact day. He took the gun to his home and stored it in a box with another firearm he said he received from a former GM employee. He told the court he also remembered when a police officer, Greer, tracked him down and ultimately took the pistol into custody.
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Banner was an apparent delight to the jury, who chuckled at his remarks throughout the testimony, including when Hines asked him how long he’s been married. Banner said he believes he’s been married 11 years but that his wife would "know better than I do." Hunter Biden was also seen smiling as Banner spoke before the court.
After Banner wrapped his testimony, Noreika joked with the attorneys that their up-close and personal questioning of the man at the witness stand was "not like in the movies."
"No, it’s not the same as when Perry Mason did it," Lowell joked in response.
Hunter Biden was attentive throughout court proceedings, as he has been each day this week, taking notes, chatting with his defense team and making a beeline to his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, when court took breaks. He was seen planting a kiss on the top of his wife’s head ahead of court kicking off on Thursday.
First lady Jill Biden was not in court on Thursday, the first time so far this trial, instead traveling to Normandy, France, to join President Biden for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. She is expected back in the Wilmington, Delaware, court on Friday before flying back to France.
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Prosecutors said – after the jury left court for the day – that they will call their final two witnesses Friday: forensic chemist Jason Brewer and DEA Special Agent Joshua Romig. They anticipate resting by mid-Friday morning.
Lowell told the court he anticipates calling two to three witnesses, including making a determination tomorrow if he will call their own expert chemist. He said they could rest by Monday.
It is unclear if the defense team will call Hunter Biden to testify.
Court resumes Friday at 9 a.m. and concludes for the week at 4:30 p.m.
The trial previously included testimony from Hunter Biden's ex-girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, who met the first son while working as a stripper in New York City when she was 24 and he was 48, FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, and Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle.
