Prosecution rests in Hunter Biden’s gun trial

WILMINGTON, Del. — Federal prosecutors concluded their gun case against Hunter Biden on Friday with two final witnesses in their effort to prove that the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form when he said he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

Prosecutors called an FBI forensic chemist, Jason Brewer, who tested a residue found on the leather pouch that contained Hunter Biden’s gun. It came back positive for cocaine, though the amount was minimal, he told jurors. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent testified about text messages Hunter Biden sent to alleged dealers.

Their testimony capped a week that has been largely dedicated to highlighting the seriousness of Hunter Biden’s drug problem through highly personal and often revealing testimony. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said he would ask the judge for an acquittal, a common request during trials but one not often granted. He also said he would call the president’s brother James as a witness.

Jurors heard Thursday from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend who testified about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. They saw images of the president’s son bare-chested and disheveled in a filthy room, and half-naked holding crack pipes. And they watched video of his crack cocaine weighed on a scale.

Prosecutors say the evidence is necessary to prove that Hunter, 54, was in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied when he checked “no” on the form that asked whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” drugs.

Lowell, has argued Hunter did not think of himself as an “addict” when he bought the gun and did not intend to deceive anyone.