WILMINGTON, Del.—First Lady Jill Biden arrived at the Delaware courthouse on June 7 for the fifth day in the federal gun trial of her stepson, Hunter Biden, after attending the D-Day 80th anniversary ceremony in Normandy, France, with President Joe Biden, the day before.
Ms. Biden has only missed one day of the trial thus far.
She will fly back to Europe to rejoin her husband later in the day after President Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a face-to-face meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris, France.
Ms. Biden accompanied President Biden on June 6 for his D-Day ceremony speech before meeting with World War II veterans.
She was present for jury selection and the testimony from her stepson’s ex-romantic partners, ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan.
Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden’s deceased brother Beau, began her testimony on June 5, finishing the next day while the first lady was absent.
Her comments on June 6 focused mainly on Hunter Biden’s descent into drug addiction after his brother died in 2015 and the on-and-off relationship she had with him.
Hunter Biden is facing three felony charges related to 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 possessed the gun for 11 days.
They argue that self-admissions of drug use around the time he purchased the gun, taken from his memoir, are proof he lied on the form.
Prosecutors rested their case early on June 7 after calling an FBI forensics chemist and a DEA special agent to the stand.
The defense is expected to call several witnesses to testify before jurors eventually reach their verdict.
Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle testified on June 5 that their marriage began to dissolve after she found a crack pipe on one of their porches in 2015.
The two separated after discovering her husband’s infidelity, Mr. Buhle said.
Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, also testified about his drug addiction on June 5, describing the frequency of his use and alleging that he was often “high functioning” while intoxicated on the drug.
Ms. Buhle alleged the same in her testimony, suggesting that Hunter Biden often worked and visited friends and family while actively using crack cocaine.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his defense attorneys have argued that he was in “denial” about his addiction when he filled out the gun application form.
They say his denial means he could not have lied when he said he wasn’t an addict, but have also questioned whether a crack addict could have functioned enough to go through with the process.
Testimony from Ms. Buhle and Ms. Kestan alleges that Hunter Biden was sometimes high-functioning throughout his addiction.
Hunter Biden is facing up to 25 years in prison if he is 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.
