As Hunter Biden’s federal trial on firearms charges gets underway, new attention is being focused on a voicemail in which President Biden urged his son to “get help,” just three days after Hunter Biden allegedly lied about a drug addiction to buy the firearm at the center of the case.
Audio of Joe Biden’s messages, previously recovered from Hunter Biden’s infamously abandoned laptop, were republished by DailyMail.com as opening statements in his eldest son’s trial began in a Delaware court on Tuesday.
Biden, 54, has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges stemming from his Oct. 12, 2018, gun purchase while he was in the midst of a cocaine addiction, according to his memoir.
The resurfacing of an audio message dated Oct. 15, 2018, suggests Biden’s father was aware of his son’s addiction at the time.
“It’s your dad. I’m calling to let you know I love you. I love you more than the whole world, my friend. We need help,” Biden can be heard telling his son in the audio.
“I don’t know what to do. I know you don’t know either. Whatever you need, I’m here. Whatever you need, I love you.”
Prosecutors said Hunter illegally possessed the Colt Cobra .38 caliber revolver for 11 days before his sister-in-law and lover, Hallie Biden, threw the gun in the trash.
It was not immediately clear whether the voicemail, which was first published by DailyMail.com two years ago and later aired by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, would be used as evidence by prosecutors at the trial.
During pretrial conferences last month, Judge Mary Ellen Noreika allowed the prosecution to present selected information from Hunter’s laptop to the 12-person jury, but also allowed the defense to challenge the evidence in each individual case.
Importantly, Judge Noreika also ruled that the prosecution did not need to prove that Hunter was high at the time of the purchase.
Prosecutors also presented a passage from Hunter’s 2021 book, “Beautiful Things.”
Text messages previously found on Hunter’s laptop showed he had communicated with an individual with a criminal record, including gun-related offenses, prior to purchasing the gun.
According to the messages, the two met the day after Hunter purchased the weapon.
But it was also not clear whether the texts themselves would be submitted as evidence.
Hunter, who was in court on Tuesday with his wife, Melissa Cohen, his stepmother, First Lady Jill Biden, and his half-sister, Ashley, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
His trial is ongoing after his eldest son was set to plead guilty under an agreement with the Justice Department last year, but the deal suddenly fell apart when Hunter’s defense lawyers realized the deal would not protect their client from other prosecutions.
On the other hand, the hunter He went on trial in Los Angeles in September on charges he failed to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019. He has since paid back the taxes.
