The Delaware trial of First Son Hunter Biden is rolling along at a brisk pace. Jury selection was completed Monday afternoon, and the jury was empaneled. Townhall’s Mia Cathell was in the courtroom to provide regular updates and gave us a good rundown of the jurors selected.
Juror #3 –
- woman
- her sister committed credit card fraud as well as served time for a drug conviction but is “currently clean”
…
Juror #5 –
- woman
- retired from U.S. Secret Service after 24 years
- negotiated contracts in the D.C.-based job
- was once an alternate juror in Maryland but never deliberated
…
Juror #16 –
- woman
- has heard about the case “in general”
- her mother owns a firearm
- isn’t familiar with the background check forms at issue in this trial
- knew drugs were “involved” in the case
…
Juror #19 –
- woman
- previously served on juries, one for an assault case and another involving a firearm – both ended with guilty verdicts
- family members own firearms
Juror #20 –
- man
- currently job hunting, has interviews lined up that could pose a schedule conflict
- sees issues with the history of federal law enforcement agencies
- has attended Alcoholics Anonymous
- previously pled guilty to a DUI
…
Juror #26 –
- man
- watches CNN and MSNBC and uses X (formerly Twitter) for news
- has a concealed carry permit
- owner of multiple firearms for personal protection
- says “Every law-abiding citizen should be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights”
Note: The information on Jurors 31, 33, and 34 comes from NBC News:
- Juror #31 – a younger male, who said his father “owns a few” firearms.
- Juror #33 – a man who said “his father was killed in a gun crime in 2004. He said his brother was arrested for narcotics possession and served a year in jail. The potential juror said he took law classes but did not continue his law education beyond that.”
- Juror #34 – “a middle-aged, nonwhite woman,” who “said she knew about this case “when it came across the screen of the TV” and recognized ‘the name, that was it.’ She said she owns a firearm and filled out a Pennsylvania form to that effect. She has previously served on a jury in a case related to narcotics and drug possession.”
More from Cathell:
Juror #37 –
- man
- his niece and nephew own firearms
- has relatives who struggled with drug abuse and died
- says drug addiction is “a disease”
Juror #38 –
- woman
- family members use firearms for hunting
- someone close to her overdosed on heroin
Juror #39 –
- man
- his older brother was addicted to PCP and heroin and is in and out of rehab
- says there’s “room for change” when asked if someone with a substance abuse issue should be allowed to own a firearm
And the alternates:
Juror #50 –
- woman
- her brother is a retired police officer
- has served on juries in the past – a case dealing with police discrimination and another as a foreperson in a vehicle accident case
…
Juror #52 –
- woman
- has school-aged children
- gets news from Facebook but finds it “very depressing,” citing school shooting coverage
- says there needs to be more mental health evaluations of potential threats
- father-in-law is an air traffic controller who sometimes coordinates with the Secret Service – “you know when [Biden’s] coming in,” she says as a result
Juror #53 –
- woman
- her grandfather had firearms
- uncle is a retired state police officer
- has lost many friends to drug overdoses
- gets news from her father and X (Twitter)
…
Juror #65 –
- woman
- donated to Obama’s campaign
- insists she’d be impartial and fair
Not being there to size the jurors up in person, I will simply share this observation: I’d feel better about that jury as the defense team than I would as the prosecution, which, remember, must persuade the jury of Hunter’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — all 12 of them.
As Cathell notes in her Day 2 coverage, it would be hard to swing a cat in Delaware without hitting a close associate of the Bidens. In theory, that could cut both ways. In theory.
As Tuesday morning’s proceedings got underway, the court advised the parties that Juror #16 would be excused after she informed the court that she is unemployed and lives an hour away and thus cannot afford to travel back and forth to the courthouse every day. One of the alternates (presumably Juror #50) was moved up to replace her.
Once the jurors were all present and accounted for, the parties presented their opening statements. Derek Hines delivered the opening for the prosecution.
Prosecutor Derek Hines serves as senior assistant special counsel in Weiss’ office. Before joining the special counsel’s team, Hines was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he also served in the narcotics and organized crime unit.
Hines laid out the key elements of the case against Biden:
Prosecutors are laying out the bare bones of the case they’ve built against Hunter, recounting the timeline of events leading up to the firearm being dumped at Janssen’s Market, a grocery store. Heralding a mountain of evidence against Hunter, including his own admissions published in his memoir Beautiful Things, where Hunter self-identified as a crack addict who’s “smoking every fifteen minutes, seven days a week.”
Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, delivered the opening on his behalf.
Hunter’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell, who previously represented Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in his previous federal corruption case, advances the good-faith argument that Hunter did not “knowingly” lie on the federal ATF 4473 form. Lowell says the prosecution purposefully left out that the form asks if an individual is an addict or user, not whether they “have ever been.” The intent to deceive is a “very high” bar to prove, Hunter’s lawyer added.
After a brief break, the prosecution called FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen to the stand to help lay the foundation for the voluminous evidence (comprised of bank records, text messages, photos — many of which were obtained from the infamous laptop — as well as excerpts from Hunter’s book “Beautiful Things”) on which they are relying to prove their case.
2:10 p.m. — the prosecution is now presenting the infamous laptop from hell that Hunter left at a computer repair shop owned by John Paul Mac Isaac. The FBI’s Special Agent Jensen explains that investigators combed through Hunter’s iMessages, photos, and videos to find evidence of his addiction.
Jensen says the material produced more than 18,000 pages worth of data which investigators summarized in a sprawling chart spanning nearly 300 rows. Going text message by text message, Jensen reads Hunter’s messages in the courtroom. She highlights an April 2018 exchange Hunter had with a WhatsApp account named “Clifford O’Brien.” Hunter sent a picture of crack weighted on a gram scale and arranged for drug pickups with this apparent drug connection.
Through Jensen, the prosecution also introduced the background check form filled out by Hunter, in which he answered the question regarding drug use and/or addiction, “No.”
Hines went through text messages between Hunter and Hallie Biden, including one from October 13, 2018, in which Hunter indicated he was “waiting for a dealer.” He also presented an exchange between the two on October 23, 2018, the day Hallie discovered the gun.
After the prosecution finished its direct examination of Agent Jensen, Lowell began his cross-examination.
Lowell started his cross-examination by going through Hunter Biden’s text exchanges with drug dealers. Lowell asked Jensen the dates of those texts — she said the majority of them were in Jan. 2019 and the following months.
So these exchanges were months after the gun sale, Lowell asked? Yes, Jensen confirmed.
Lowell also appeared to be trying to draw the jury’s attention to times in Hunter’s life that he wasn’t using drugs. The excerpts you selected reflected the “periods” of time when Hunter was using crack, there were also periods where he wasn’t using, Lowell said.
With that, they adjourned for the day. It appears the defense’s cross-examination of Jensen will continue Wednesday AM.
Of course, no trial such as this would be complete without some extra drama. Hunter’s wife, Melissa, apparently flipped out on a former Trump aide, Garret Ziegler, as they returned from a break.
Hunter Biden’s Wife Flips Out on Ex-Trump Aide at Her Husband’s Trial
Former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler was at the courthouse. Ziegler, who worked on trade policy, has more recently been involved with setting up the non-profit Marco Polo, which has helped to expose the Hunter Biden laptop. Marco Polo has the photos, videos, and emails from the laptop, albeit with some redactions on the racier stuff.
Apparently, Melissa Cohen was not happy to see him there. She went off on him, saying, “You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s–t,” according to a report.
Ziegler did not respond to the emotional outburst, but he did speak about it to NBC.
“It’s sad I’ve been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone,” Ziegler told them. “For the record, I’m not a Nazi, I’m a believer in the US Constitution. I haven’t said one thing to them.”
Never a dull moment with the Bidens!
