First son Hunter Biden had “lost the power of self-control” when he lied about his crack cocaine addiction to buy a gun in the fall of 2018, federal prosecutors told jurors in their closing argument Monday.
Prosecutor Leo Wise told the jurors that the government had shown a pattern of behavior by Hunter, now 54, that proved he was addicted to drugs from 2015 through at least 2019 — including through his own messages to his loved ones.
“We see in these messages [Hunter] buying drugs, telling other people he was using drugs, and describing himself as an addict,” Wise said. “He had lost the power of self-control. That’s why he kept going to rehab. He couldn’t stop on his own.”
Hunter Biden “lost the power of self-control,” prosecutors said during closing arguments.
Hunter Biden is charged with three felony counts related to his claim on a gun application form that he didn’t use illegal drugs the day he bought a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver from a Wilmington gun store on Oct. 12, 2018.
Prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office don’t need to prove Hunter was high on the day of the purchase, just that he was addicted around that time.
“The evidence was personal. It was ugly, and it was overwhelming,” Wise said. “It was also absolutely necessary.”
Prosecutors argued they proved Hunter Biden was hooked on drugs when he lied on a form about his addiction to buy a gun.
During their arguments last week, prosecutors played audio excerpts from Hunter’s memoir “Beautiful Things” where he described finding crack cocaine as his “superpower.”
Witnesses for the prosecution included Hunter’s ex-wife and two of his former girlfriends, one of whom said he used the street drug “every 20 minutes.”
“The defendant used crack and was addicted to crack and knew he used crack and knew he was addicted to crack during the relevant time period,” Wise said.
“He didn’t use drugs by accident,” the prosecutor continued. “He knew he was using drugs and he knew he was addicted to drugs. Maybe if he’d never been to rehab, he could argue he didn’t know he was an addict.”
Hunter’s defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, has argued that his client didn’t knowingly lie about his addiction when buying the gun — claiming instead that Hunter was in a “deep state of denial.”
