Judge Noreika appears to be frustrated with Hunter Biden's lawyer over exhibit management
“Why are you doing that today when you expect to admit the exhibit today,” Judge Noreika said, appearing to be frustrated with the defense's exhibit management.
Noreika is clearly overwhelmed by the amount of evidence: “I got laptop and hard drive and I don’t even know what else I got,” she said. “iClouds, oh my!”
Prosecutors object to text messages Hunter Biden's lawyer wants to show
Prosecutors raised a contentious objection about text messages Hunter Biden's lawyer wants to show during Hallie Biden’s testimony.
Prosecutor Leo Wise objected for several reasons. First, he said he didn’t receive them in a timely manner, saying he got them last night, and second, he said, “It’s full of inadmissible hearsay.”
Defense lawyer raises several issues at start of court
Lowell brought up several issues before the court was called into session.
One had to do with a second form of ID that may have been required for the ATF form, that was not photocopied. There was discussion over whether Lowell can ask about that second form of ID. “The gun store is not on trial,” Derek Hines responded.
Lowell then brought up the idea that some of his witnesses would be here this afternoon, but not all of them. If prosecutors wrap up their case this afternoon, Lowell said, he would like the court to break early for the day and start with defense witnesses tomorrow. We’ll see how things go, Judge Noreika said.
Jill Biden not in court day due to presidential travel
Hunter Biden once again has several friends and family in attendance, including Melissa Cohen Biden and Kevin Morris. First lady Jill Biden is not in attendance today because she is in Normandy with the president for a D-Day event.
As Hunter Biden walked into the courtroom, he waved to and shook the hands of almost everyone in the first and second rows behind the defense table.
Hallie Biden arrives at the courthouse
Hallie Biden, the wife of Hunter Biden's late brother Beau Biden, arrived at the courthouse at 9:03 a.m. She is expected to testify about the romantic relationship she had with Hunter Biden after her husband's death.
Here are the prosecution's remaining witnesses
Gun store clerk Gordon Cleveland, who sold Hunter Biden the handgun at the center of the case, is expected to continue his testimony this morning.
Here are the five remaining witnesses on the list the government included in its pretrial brief and displayed in opening statements:
- Hallie Biden: The wife of the president’s late son Beau Biden, who was in a romantic relationship with Hunter Biden after Beau’s death, she observed Hunter Biden use drugs on multiple occasions during their relationship in the fall of 2018. While he was staying at her home during that time, she and her children searched his bags and vehicle in an effort to help him get sober, the pretrial brief says. They repeatedly found drug paraphernalia and drugs in his possession. She also witnessed Hunter Biden frequently lose his phones and change phones, explaining gaps in the text message timeline. She also exchanged various text messages with Hunter Biden.
- Delaware State Police Senior Cpl. Joshua Marley: He is expected to testify about his response to an incident at Janssen’s Market, what Hunter Biden had admitted, and about evidence recovered. Hallie Biden threw the handgun out behind the grocery store, which was later recovered by someone else.
- Former Delaware State Police Lt. Millard Greer: He is expected to testify about his recovery of the gun Hunter Biden purchased, as well as ammunition, speed loader and a brown leather pouch from the man who found them in the trash receptacle at Janssen’s Market.
- Forensic chemist Dr. Jason Brewer: He is expected to testify about his analysis of the residue on the brown leather pouch Hunter Biden had used, and his opinion that the residue was cocaine based on his testing and examination of that evidence.
- Drug Enforcement Administration Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Romig: He is expected to offer opinions, based on his training and experience, about coded messages sent by Hunter Biden and about other information disclosed to the defendant in the government’s expert disclosure.
Hunter Biden arrives in court
Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, have arrived in court ahead of the start of proceedings at 9 a.m.
House GOP sends DOJ criminal referral on Hunter and James Biden over impeachment inquiry testimony
Top House Republicans yesterday sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending that President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden be charged with making false statements to Congress.
The letter from the three GOP committee chairmen to Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss comes as Hunter Biden is standing trial on unrelated gun charges brought by Weiss in federal court in Delaware. The trial began Monday.
The referrals also come less than a week after former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted by a jury in New York on felony charges of falsifying business records.
The letter by House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., accused Hunter and James Biden of having “made provably false statements to the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee about key aspects of the impeachment inquiry, in what appears to be a conscious effort to hinder the investigation’s focus on President Joe Biden.”
Where is President Biden today?
The president will continue his overseas trip in France today, heading to Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day as his son's trial continues into its fourth day.
Biden will meet with veterans, deliver remarks and participate in a wreath laying ceremony to honor the Allied troops' major operation that shifted the tide of World War II.
At his federal trial on gun charges, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and former girlfriend testified about his drug abuse, including his use of drugs around the time he purchased a gun. At the time of the purchase, Hunter Biden denied using drugs on a federal form. NBC News’ Ryan Nobles reports.