WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s relationship with a 24-year-old stripper, his need to snort cocaine every 20 minutes and how his rising drug addiction ruined his first time were revealed to a jury Details of the marriage emerged as a jury found the first son on three felony charges related to the 2018 purchase of a revolver.
“As soon as he woke up, he wanted to smoke,” Biden’s ex-girlfriend Zoe Kerstein testified Wednesday. She met Biden when she was 24 and he was 48 while working at a New York City gentlemen’s club.
On Wednesday, the court heard from FBI agent Erika Jensen, Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, Kestan and gun store employee Gordon Cleveland. The testimony continued as prosecutors worked to prove to the jury that Biden lied about his drug addiction when filling out federal forms.
Biden faces charges including making false statements when purchasing a gun, making false statements about information that federally licensed gun dealers are required to maintain, and possessing a gun by an unlawful user or addict.
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On June 5, 2024, Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden arrived at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Biden Not guilty in this case.
The three charges carry a total prison term of up to 25 years. Each count carries a maximum penalty of $250,000 in fines and three years of supervised release.
Kerstein detailed in her testimony that she met Biden in December 2017, when he booked a 30-minute private room at a strip club where she worked and ended up with someone she described as “charming and charismatic.” of men into relationships.
Kestein, who testified under immunity, told the jury about Biden’s rampant drug use over the course of their relationship, including him snorting cocaine in hotel rooms, sneaking into public bathrooms to snort cocaine and even how she helped him get drugs. She said the crack cocaine he regularly bought was the size of “ping pong balls” which he broke and lit in glass pipes.
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Kasten described to the court that when she first met Biden, she was a “super attractive” man and she was “confused” by how he could be coherent and cognitively capable while on drugs.
“I didn’t notice. Sometimes I think it was because I had developed feelings for him,” she told the court.
Kerstein said their whirlwind relationship was a “distraction” for Biden because he allegedly smoked cigarettes with her less often when they were holed up in luxury hotel rooms like the Four Seasons Hotel or in their bungalows in New York City. , sometimes lasting several days at a time.
Wearing a colorful scarf, Kestan detailed to the court the rise and fall of their relationship, including how he called on her to clean out an abandoned hotel room strewn with crack residue, pipes, snacks and alcohol and asked her to pick out the 2018 , his car was towed in Los Angeles.
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A court sketch depicts the trial of Hunter Biden on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. (William J. Hennessy, Jr.)
The photos Kastein attached to his testimony showed broken pipes in hotel rooms that were often placed next to wine or beer bottles; a photo of a shirtless Biden taking a bubble bath with Kastein; and a FaceTime A screenshot from the video shows a tattoo on Biden’s back that resembles claw marks. In his speech, Kestein told jurors that Biden learned how to cook crack cocaine and showed jurors a photo of baking soda in a hotel room used to cook cocaine into crack.
Kestein said Biden often talked about being an addict and wanting to stop drinking, including his attempts to rid his body of drugs using a frog venom called kambo.
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Although Kestan knew Biden before and after he purchased the Colt revolver in October 2018, the two did not disclose the month of the purchase and rekindled their relationship before it officially ended in November 2018.
A court sketch depicts the trial of Hunter Biden on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. (William J. Hennessy, Jr.)
Hunter’s ex-wife of more than 20 years, Kathleen Buhle, with whom he has three daughters, also testified Wednesday. She told the court that Buhler and Biden divorced in 2017 after a broken pipe was discovered on the side porch of his Washington, D.C., home in 2015.
Buhler was soft-spoken and appeared emotional during her testimony, detailing her suspicions about rampant drug use following Buhler’s discharge from the Navy Reserves after he tested positive for cocaine and the subsequent death of their marriage.
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“I was definitely worried and scared,” she said, describing how she searched his car for drugs and drug paraphernalia to make sure their daughter wasn’t driving around in a drug-laden vehicle.
Buehler said they attended couples therapy before their marriage ended after a ruptured pipe was discovered in their home in 2015. Buller said she could not remember the date their marriage officially ended, only that it was Good Friday 2017.
On June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware, Hunter Biden, the son of President Biden, was tried on criminal gun charges. Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle left after testifying in court. Federal Court. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
Buehler, who had the shortest time in court among the witnesses, took a deep breath as she quickly left the courtroom Wednesday morning.
Jurors were visibly fascinated by Buhler’s appearance after relatively dry, sustained testimony from Jensen, who discussed Wells Fargo bank records Wednesday morning. When Buehler first appeared in court, nearly all of the jurors were taking notes, or at least holding notepads and pens.
Following testimony from Hunter’s ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, prosecutors next called Gordon T. Cleveland, the gun store employee who sold Biden the revolver in October 2018.
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Cleveland, who previously worked as a salesman at StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington, detailed to the court the sequence of events surrounding the Oct. 12, 2018 purchase, including details of a black Cadillac driven by Biden on the day of the purchase.
Asked how he remembered the car Biden drove, Cleveland told the court: “I like guns and I like cars.” The comment drew laughter from the jury, members of the media and others in the courtroom.
Gordon Cleveland leaves federal court on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Cleveland said Biden entered the store late in the afternoon in 2018 with the intention of purchasing a gun. Biden bought a Cobra Colt .38; a box of ammunition; a speedloader for the gun, a device that allows for faster loading of ammunition; and a BB gun.
Cleveland said he gave Biden a federal firearms form to fill out, explaining that he instructed him to answer the form slowly and “truthfully.” Cleveland said he was about two feet away from Biden as he filled out the form, which included Question 11E, which asked whether he was using illegal drugs or was addicted to drugs. Biden checked the box that said he was not addicted to drugs.
A court sketch depicts the trial of Hunter Biden on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. (William J. Hennessy, Jr.)
Cleveland laughed when defense attorney Abe Lowell asked him if he was “familiar with the term whale hunter?”
“Yes,” he replied with a laugh, then argued that although he “didn’t do upsells,” he was able to sell expensive firearms to customers, such as two Desert Eagles in one day.
The court again erupted in laughter at the former salesman’s response when asked whether Cleveland routinely sold ammunition along with gun sales.
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“What are you going to do? Throw [a gun] To someone? ” he quipped, noting that ammunition is often sold with the gun.
During opening arguments on Tuesday, the defense team argued that Biden’s purchase of the gun was a hasty purchase by a gun store employee seeking to sell it. However, Cleveland was confident in Wednesday’s response to Lowell that Biden was the final choice of the Colt revolver, ammunition and speedloader. He said the decision to purchase the BB gun was a decision Biden made alone. The BB gun looks similar to a real pistol without the traditional orange tip found on most other BB guns.
Jurors saw the gun, ammunition boxes and speed loader in court Wednesday.
Biden was joined on the third day by his stepmother, Jill Biden. She once again sat in the front seat behind her first son. Wearing a bright pink suit and matching heels, she chatted casually with family and allies throughout the day, but sat quietly cross-legged with her hands folded in her lap. She again sat next to Biden’s second wife, Melissa Cohen Biden.
Hunter Biden, left, leaves the federal courthouse with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The court resumes at 9 a.m. Thursday to continue Cleveland’s cross-examination. Prosecutors announced late Wednesday that they had six more witnesses scheduled to testify, closing the case as early as Thursday afternoon.
Biden’s former lover and sister-in-law Hallie Biden, Beau Biden’s widow, may be among the witnesses who testify Thursday.
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After prosecutors close their case, witnesses from the defense team will testify.
