On the 1st day of #testimony in #HunterBiden’s federal #gun trial, #jurors heard his audio of his memoir, where he recounted his #drug use in graphic detail. A federal prosecutor told jurors “no one is above the #law,” & defense said the he did not “knowingly” lie when filling out forms to purchase a weapon.
#HunterBiden had reportedly dropped off the MacBookPro at a computer repair shop in 2019 & never reclaimed it.
The shop owner [for some reason] contacted #Republicanlawmakers & #politicians to review the hundreds of thousands of emails & msgs in the laptop.
An #FBI agent testified that investigators obtained a #warrant to search the laptop’s msgs & “found evidence of addiction.” duh, he’s been VERY open about his struggles w/ [#addiction]
Prosecutors claimed they were attempting to corroborate the battles of #addiction that #HunterBiden described in his memoir w/real-time msgs in his hard drive & iCloud.
#FBI agent Erika Jensen testified that Hunter’s cloud data & laptop held msgs from 2018 which showed drug habits, using codes like “baby powder” & “chore boy” for crack cocaine.
A series of WhatsApp msgs recovered from Biden’s iCloud account were shown to the jury, & appear to show Biden arranging deliveries of drugs.
In one exchange, #HunterBiden appeared to feel he’d been cheated & sent a picture of white powder on a green-colored bank or credit card. [you know you’re in deep when you photo document your illegal drugs]
Other msgs the #FBI agent said were found on the laptop appeared to show him discussing smoking crack w/a friend in Aug 2018, shortly before he did a 2-wk prgm in #rehab. #law#pillory
The #FBI agent said they were able to confirm that the laptop taken from the repair shop was #HunterBiden’s partly from his iCloud data, which contained an invoice from the shop [wait - an invoice for the repair was on the laptop before the work was done? Remember, he never picked it up]
The #gun counts #HunterBiden faces are rarely stand-alone charges. Usually such violations are attached to ≥1 other alleged #crime, e.g. armed robbery.
Oct 2022 - Mar 2023, federal prosecutors filed 3,863 cases in which the #unlawful possession of a #firearm was the lead charge, per Syracuse’s TRAC database.
In 130 of those cases, or ~3%, the lead unlawful possession charge was related to making a false stmnt to acquire the weapon. The amt of false stmnts + drug use is likely even lower.
The drive analyzed for The Washington Post lacked a clear chain of custody, & was considered "a mess" & "a disaster" from a forensic standpoint by the 2 analysts.
Big show of family support on the 1st day of #HunterBiden’s trial.
In addition to #POTUS’ statement, Hunter’s wife, Melissa Cohen, his sister Ashley Biden, his friend Kevin Morris, Peter Neal, who is married to Hunter’s daughter Naomi, & #FLOTUS Dr. #JillBiden are in attendance.
President #Biden will be in Wilmington, DL, w/no appearances scheduled. But he has given no indication that he would be in the courthouse — a possibility that would require considerable security arrangements.
In #HunterBiden’s trial, jury selection highlights #UnitedStates’ drug epidemic
The nation’s political divisions were also laid bare as 6 men & 6 women were chosen…. #JurySelection for the trial of #POTUS#Biden’s son Hunter turned into an impromptu but painful indictment of the nation’s drug epidemic, w/person after person telling the court of their loved ones’ battles w/ #addiction.
Judge Maryellen Noreika swore in 12 #jurors — + 4 alternates — to determine the #legal fate of #HunterBiden, who is on trial for 3 #felony#gun charges….
A substitute #teacher, a fmr #SecretService employee & multiple #GunOwners were among those chosen to report back to court Tues morning, when opening arguments are expected to begin.…Most were people of color, &…appeared to range from mid-20s to 70s.
…The responses of dozens of prospective jurors to questions in open court reflected some of the most pervasive & divisive issues in American society, w/jurors discussing their views on #gun ownership & #mistrust of the #judicial process.
And in a trial where the #criminal defendant has been public about his struggles w/ drug #addiction, the #jurors told the court about similar battles fought by their parents, children & friends.
Many offered their own versions of a written statement from #POTUS#Biden…. He said he found his son’s #recovery from #addiction inspiring & knew that many families of addicts could relate to #HunterBiden’s journey.
“My daughter’s been given a 2nd chance,” said one prospective juror who was not chosen for the panel, but like many others said his experience watching a family member struggle w/drugs would not prevent him from judging Hunter Biden fairly. “Everyone deserves a 2nd chance.”
…Many #jurors said they had read or seen headlines about Hunter Biden’s #gun case over the yrs in local & natl news, but few said they delved into the details. One woman, selected as an alternate, said she first learned #HunterBiden was going to trial on Mon …on her drive over to the courthouse.
She told the court that many of her relatives are gun owners & that she has lost multiple friends to drug #addiction. “I feel it’s an everyday part of the world nowadays,” she said.