Prosecutor Derek Hines delivered a scathing opening statement Tuesday in Hunter Biden’s gun trial, telling jurors that “no one is above the law.”
This opening attack set the stage for the prosecution to frame the trial.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what your name is,” Hines said. Defendants are “being tried for the choices they made,” the court reporter continued. yeahattention, to add Hunter “chose to illegally possess a firearm” and “we are here because he chose to lie.”
Hunter Biden “chose to illegally possess firearms,” he said. “Addiction may not be a choice,” but purchasing a gun is. Hunter “has not been charged with drug possession.”
“If he was just a drug addict, we wouldn’t be here today,” Hines said.
President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is charged with one count of making a false statement regarding the purchase of a firearm, one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user or addict of a controlled substance, and one count of making a false statement regarding information required to be kept by a federally licensed firearms dealer.
Hunter was found dumped in a public trash bin next to a school when he bought the gun, and various photos on his abandoned laptop suggested he was using crack cocaine at the time. The Secret Service is said to have been involved in the investigation.
“Gordon Cleveland, who sold guns to Hunter Biden at StarQuest Shooters, will testify at trial,” Hines told the court, NBC News reported.
The jury was shown the paperwork Biden filled out to buy the gun, and Hines explained each section of the form.
Dealers rely on the honesty of those who fill out the forms, Hines said.
Hines said Cleveland would testify that Hunter Biden checked the boxes indicating he was drug and alcohol free.
According to a CNN report, prosecutors showed jurors images of Hunter’s revolver and the “hollow point” bullets he purchased that day.
Biden’s legal team said in earlier filings that Biden never used or loaded the gun during the 11 days before his girlfriend dumped it.
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Prosecutors showed the jury that A.T.F. [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] Paperwork filled out when Biden purchased a gun.
“He lied” on the ATF documents, Hines told the jury.
According to CNN, the judge has banned television, audio and Slack messages during Hunter’s trial, forcing court reporters to rely on “notes, runners or reporters coming out of the courtroom in person.”
This incident United States v. Hunter Biden, Case No. 24-1703 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Wendell Fsebo is a political reporter for Breitbart News and a former Republican War Room analyst. The Politics of Slave MoralityFollow Wendell “Bat” @WendellHusebø or The truth of society @WendellHusebo.
