Jury begins deliberations in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial | CNN Politics (2024)

The jury in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trialbegan deliberations on Mondayafter the defendant declined to testify in his own defense and both sides presented closing arguments in the historic case against the president’s son.

If convicted, Biden could face up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000, though first-time offenders like him rarely receive the maximum penalty. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

Here are some takeaways from the sixth day of the historic trial:

Read more takeaways from Day 6

No cameras are allowed inside the Delaware courtroom where Hunter Biden’s trial is underway, but sketch artist Bill Hennessy is capturing the scenes.

Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell, second from right, speaks to Judge Maryellen Noreika during court on Monday, June 10, in Wilmington, Delaware.

First lady Jill Biden, second from left, listens during court on Monday.

Judge Maryellen Noreika, second from right, speaks to Hunter Biden, second from left, in court.

President Joe Biden in France on Thursday.

President Joe Biden said hewould not pardonhis son Hunter if he’s found guilty of criminal gun charges.

Biden accused his predecessor Donald Trump of attempting to subvert the rule of law by questioning the verdict in his own criminal trial.

“He’s trying to undermine it,” Biden told Muir. “He got a fair trial. The jury spoke.”

Read more on President Joe Biden’s comments.

Judge Maryellen Noreika presides over court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 3.

Federal district Judge Maryellen Noreika is overseeing Hunter Biden’s gun case in Delaware.

Noreika, a Donald Trump appointee, was confirmed by the US Senate in August 2018 by voice vote. She had the support of both Democratic senators from Delaware. Under the Senate’sblue slip tradition, nominees for district court seats require the support of home state senators to move forward.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat, praised Noreikain a statementafter her nomination was announced. He described her and another appointee as “seasoned attorneys,” with “impressive trial skills, deep experience in federal practice, and profound respect for the law.”

Before becoming a federal judge, Noreika was a former patent lawyer in Wilmington, Delaware. Shegrew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniaand graduated from University of Pittsburgh School of Lawin 1993.

Noreika’s political spendinghas gone to both parties. On the presidential level, federal records indicate that she gave $1,000 to then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination. She later donated $2,300 to the eventual 2008 Republican nominee, then-Arizona Sen. John McCain. She donated to the subsequent GOP nominee as well, giving $2,500 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012.

Noreika also financially supported Sen. Tom Cotton, a conservative Republican from Arkansas, during his 2014 senate race. She also donated $1,000 in 2009 to the DSCC, the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.

CNN’s Tierney Sneed, Marshall Cohen and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.

As President Joe Biden engages in the fight of his political life in a campaign focused on democracy and the rule of law,the most intimate details of his family’songoing personal tragedies have been publicly dissected in a courtroom over the last week.

Hunter Biden’s struggles with addiction after the death ofhis brotherBeau Biden have been the focus of hours of testimony during his trial for federal criminal charges, putting some of the Biden family’s most personal problems on full display. The president’s son has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts connected to a gun he purchased in October 2018.

For decades, the president has navigated the sometimes-competing demands of his political career and being a father, particularly when it comes to Hunter Biden.Part of the president’s enduring brand has been his ability to relate to the personal tragedies of others because of what his family has suffered, including the death of his first wife and daughter in a 1972 car crash that severely injured Beau and Hunter, and Beau’s 2015 death from brain cancer.

The most emotional parts of the trial involved the testimony from those closest to Hunter Biden, including his daughter Naomi, his ex-girlfriend and his brother’s widow Hallie Biden and his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle.

Though the questions they faced were aimed at determining whether Hunter was using drugs in 2018, the effect Hunter’s drug use had on their own lives was inescapable.

“I am the President, but I am also a Dad,” Biden said in a statement at the start of the trial. “Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”

Last week, the presidentruled out pardoninghis son.

The jury will resume deliberations Tuesday in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial in Wilmington, Delaware.

While buying a revolver in Delaware in 2018, prosecutors accuse Biden of lying on a federal form, swearing that he was not using, and was not addicted to, any illegal drugs — even though he was struggling with crack cocaine addiction at the time of the purchase.

Here’s who was on the stand during the trial:

FBI special agent Erika Jensen (she testified at the beginning of the trial and was called again to the stand by the prosecution during their rebuttal argument) Kathleen Buhle, Hunter Biden’s ex-wifeZoe Kestan, Hunter Biden’s former girlfriendGordon Cleveland, a gun store employee who sold Hunter Biden the firearm at the center of the caseHallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden’s late brother, Beau, and Hunter Biden’s former girlfriendJoshua Marley, a Delaware police officerMillard Greer, a former Delaware state trooperEdward Banner, the 80-year-old man who found Hunter Biden’s gun in a trash can outside a grocery storeJason Brewer, an FBI forensic chemistJoshua Romig, a DEA special agent Jason Turner, a gun store employee Ronald Palimere, the gun store’s ownerNaomi Biden, Hunter Biden’s daughter

The jurors have been dismissed for the day in the Hunter Biden trial.

They began deliberating about an hour before court ended Monday. Court and deliberations will resume Tuesday morning.

Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden leave the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday.

A panel of 12 Delaware citizens is deliberating in the federal gun trial against Hunter Biden after both sides presented closing arguments.

This is the first time in American history that the child of the sitting president is going on trial. The indictment was brought by the Justice Department, specifically by David Weiss, the special counsel appointed last year to oversee the Hunter Biden probes.

Hunter Biden, 54, is accused of illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while abusing or being addicted to drugs, a violation of federal law. He pleaded not guilty to the three charges, though he has been open abouthis struggleswith alcohol and crack cocaine addiction.

The first two charges in thethree-count indictmentare tied to the gun purchase itself.

When a person buys a gun, they must fill out a form with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and affirm that they are legally allowed to buy the weapon. Hunter Biden has been charged with lying on those forms.

These questions include: Have you been convicted of a felony? Are you a fugitive? Are you in the country unlawfully? And, importantly for this case, are you an “unlawful user of, or addicted to” illegal drugs? Hunter Biden allegedlychecked the boxthat said, “No.”

Count 3 relates to the possession of the gun. It’s also against federal law to possess a gun if you are abusing drugs. Hunter Biden had the gun for 11 days in October 2018, before his girlfriend threw it in a dumpster because she was worried about his mental health, according to the indictment and texts made public in recent court filings.

If convicted of al three counts, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though he likely will receive far less than the maximum as a first-time offender.

Some jurors took notes during the roughly hour-long prosecution closing arguments, taking glances at the large contingent of Biden family members, including the first lady, the president’s siblings James and Valerie, and a number of cousins.

Various family members shook their heads in disapproval as the prosecutor described Hunter Biden’s “four years of active addiction.”

During Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell’s 90 minute closing however, some jurors appeared to be nodding off. He showed them a lengthyseries of full-screen graphics to list what he said were reasonable doubts jurors should have about the government case.

Lowell used an analogy of an accordion to try to describe how prosecutors were stretching facts to cover the lack of direct evidence of Hunter Biden’s drug use in October, 2018 when he bought the gun.

Some jurors pulled their sweaters and shawls up to cover themselves in the chilly courtroom as the prosecution retook the podium for the rebuttal.

Both sides gave their final thoughts to jurors in closing arguments in the gun trial against Hunter Biden. The defense rested its case Monday morning without calling the president’s son to the stand.

Hunter Biden faces three charges stemming from a 2018 gun purchase. While buying the revolver, Biden is accused of lying on a federal form, swearing that he was not using, and was not addicted to, any illegal drugs – even though prosecutors say he was struggling with crack cocaine addiction at the time of the purchase.

Here’s a recap of what both sides said in their final appeal to jurors:

Prosecution:

Defense:

Remember: If convicted on all counts, Biden could face as much as 25 years in prison and fines of up to $750,000, according to court filings.However, defendants very rarely get the maximum penalty, especially in cases like these, involving non-violent crimes and an alleged first-time offender.His punishment will be solelyup to the judge,

The prosecution had a strong “evidentiary basis” that could push toward a conviction, but the defense made a strong emotional appeal, strengthened by the presence of his family, said Florida judge and law professor Jeff Swartz.

Swartz also mentioned that there was a juror who had a family member who also struggled with addiction and sobbed during the opening statement, making the emotional pull of the testimonies defending Hunter Biden even stronger.

The case against Hunter Biden has gone to the jury in Wilmington, Delaware.

They will now consider whether President Joe Biden’s son is guilty or not guilty of the three gun charges brought by prosecutors.

The prosecution has concluded their rebuttal.

The judge is now set to provide final instructions and send the jury to start deliberations.

Prosecutor Derek Hines told the jury that defense witness Naomi Biden actually hurt her father’s case because she was telling the truth.

“She couldn’t vouch for the defendant’s sobriety,” Hines said, adding that she couldn’t do so because she swore to tell the truth.

During his closing argument, Hunter Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell shouted that it was cruel when prosecutors asked if Naomi Biden used drugs.

(There is no evidence that she has used drugs and she has not been accused of doing so or charged with any crime.)

Prosecutor Derek Hines is pointing directly at Hunter Biden while referencing Hunter Biden’s decisions to buy a gun and use drugs.

“Choices have consequences, and that’s why we’re here,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here in this courtroom” if Hunter Biden only smoked crack, Hines said.

Hunter Biden could be sentenced to jail time if he is convicted, said CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid, but he may face a far less harsh sentencing due to the fact that he’s a first-time offender.

Hunter Biden is facing athree-count indictment, with the first two tied to the gun purchase itself.

Count three relates to the possession of the gun. It’s also against federal law to possess a gun if you are abusing drugs. Hunter Biden had the gun for 11 days in October 2018, before his girlfriend threw it in a dumpster because she was worried about his mental health, according to the indictment and texts made public in recent court filings.

“As afirst-time offender, again, ifhe’s even convicted, he wouldface something far less. Now,he faces three counts, forexample, if he’s onlyconvicted on one count, thesentence would be even less,” Reid said.

Hunter Biden’s sentence will be solely up to the judge. If convicted on all three counts,he could face up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000 at sentencing.

“His team willalso likely appeal, and anysentence that came about wouldbe paused while these appealsplayed out. So it’s not likelyhe’ll see jail time, even if he is given jail time, at least immediately,” said CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider.

CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed reporting to this post.

It was “extraordinarily cruel” for prosecutors to ask Naomi Biden if she used drugs to try to fill in the “gaping holes” in their case, Hunter Biden’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell said during his closing argument.

Lowell glared directly at prosecutors as he spoke, raising his voice and banging his fist on the lectern.

Hunter Biden’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell finished his closing argument in the federal gun case Monday.

Prosecutors will now present a rebuttal. After that, the judge said she would then give jurors a few final instructions before sending them to deliberate.

Lowell’s closing argument went approximately 85 minutes.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell slammed prosecutors, saying the most “unfair” thing Weiss’ team did was “take Hunter’s words about being an addict out of the context they were in.”

Many people refer to themselves as addicts even in periods when they aren’t using, Lowell said.

Lowell added that “Hunter has not asked anyone to excuse the mistakes he has made: using drugs and alcohol to dull the pain that he felt.”

Hunter Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Hallie Biden did something “incredibly stupid” and may have done it “for love” when she threw out Hunter Biden’s gun.

After Hunter Biden learned that Hallie Biden tossed the gun in a trash can at a grocery store, he told her to call the police, Lowell noted.

“A person who is … using drugs, can’t operate, is a ‘danger to public safety,’” Lowell said quoting prosecutors, is the “very same person” who told Hallie Biden to file a police report.

Lowell also said “there is no evidence in the record – none” that the gun was ever even loaded during the 11 days when Hunter Biden owned it in October 2018.

“There is no evidence that the gun was anywhere except in that lockbox,” in his truck, Lowell said.

Hunter Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell brought up the federal form Hunter Biden signed to purchase a gun in 2018.

Lowell also noted that the question of drug use and addiction on the form was in the present tense.

“A question not on the past tense but in the present: are,” Lowell said, adding “what he thought on those key days” as crucial.

Lowell reminded the jury that the gun seller, Gordon Cleveland, didn’t think Hunter Biden was on drugs when he bought the gun.

Cleveland “spent lots of time” with Hunter Biden that day, maybe more than anyone else, Lowell said, and testified that Hunter Biden “not at all exhibited” any signs of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

This is “real evidence” that Hunter Biden is not guilty of lying on the ATF form, Lowell said.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell again leaned on the “magician’s trick” motif to accuse prosecutors of trying to dupe the jury.

“Watch this hand, pay no attention to the other one,” Lowell said.

He raised this regarding the testimony of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)drug expert. The expert told the jury all about the “drug lingo” that Hunter Biden used, Lowell said, but those examples weren’t from the time that Hunter Biden purchased and possessed the firearm.

Much of the case, Lowell said, included testimony to facts Hunter Biden has already admitted – his years long use of crack cocaine.

Lowell ridiculed prosecutors for calling Hunter Biden’s ex-wife to testify, noting she didn’t have knowledge about the year off the allegations.

No one, Lowell said, had witnessed “actual drug use” in the month Hunter Biden bought the firearm.

Lowell is also hammering into the jury that prosecutors’ case is based on “suspicion” and “conjecture.”

“There was no actual witness” to Hunter Biden’s drug use during the operative time in 2018, Lowell asserted.

Hunter Biden’s repeated withdrawals of cash could be for other “operative purposes” besides drug purchase, he said, and prosecutors didn’t definitively prove “when” remnants of crack were left on a leather pouch Hunter owned.

“Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is not suspicion or conjecture and hoping you won’t realize the difference,” Lowell said.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell also noted that Hallie Biden, a key witness for the prosecution, couldn’t recall details around the time she found the gun in Hunter Biden’s car.

“Poor Hallie,” Lowell said, adding that through her testimony she has been “dragged through” a tragic time in her life.

Hallie Biden, Lowell said, testified that she guessed that residue she saw in the car was from drugs and couldn’t recall what paraphernalia she said she saw.

Powell also said the prosecutors were trying to weave “suspicion” and “conjecture” about the pouch found with Hunter Biden’s gun in his car. An FBI chemist testified that it tested positive for small amounts of cocaine.

“You don’t know” who put that residue there, Lowell said, suggesting explicitly it may have originated from “Hallie [Biden].”

Further, Lowell noted that the special counsel only tested the pouch for drugs in 2023, five years after it was seized.

The defense slammed Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, a critical prosecution witness who implicated him in drug use a few weeks before he bought the gun at the center of the case.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Kestan met with prosecutors many times before trial to “rehearse” her testimony – instantly drawing an objection from the special counsel team. It is not uncommon for prosecution witnesses in a trial to meet with those attorneys before getting on the stand.

Lowell noted that Kestan helped connect Hunter Biden with drug dealers, enabling him.

He also pointed out that Kestan took a lot of pictures of Hunter Biden with drugs, but none from the key month of October 2018, when he bought the gun.

During the trial, prosecutors honed in on a series of text messages that Hunter Biden sent in October of 2018.

A series of text messages Hunter Biden sent to his sister-in-law and past partner Hallie Biden show that he is “suggests that he was either doing drugs or about to buy drugs,” Reid added. Defense attorneys argued that Hunter Biden was simply trying to avoid Hallie and made up an excuse, stating that it was not sufficient evidence to show that Hunter Biden was actually doing drugs.

The prosecution will focus on the fact that there were traces of cocaine in the pouch containing the gun, but the defense will focus on the specific timing of the gun ownership, according to legal analyst Elie Honig.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell compared the prosecutor’s case to a “magician’s trick” —a slight-of-hand where they try to get a conviction even though the evidence isn’t there.

He said this while this wile criticizing special counsel David Weiss’ team for, in his view, cherry-picking evidence to present a more favorable timeline at Hunter Biden’s drug use that supports their claim that he was actively on drugs in October 2018.

Again, Lowell argued that the bar for prosecutors to prove Hunter Biden was knowingly violating the law was extremely high.

Knowingly, Lowell said, means that Hunter Biden would have had to have been “conscious and aware” of the law and how he was violating it.

“With this very high burden, it’s time to end this case,” Lowell said.

When he marked on the federal form that he wasn’t an addict, Hunter Biden was not saying “what he believed to be false.”

Lowell, Hunter Biden’s defense attorney, told the jury that prosecutors hadn’t proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter Biden knew at the time he bought the gun that it was illegal.

Hunter Biden’s knowledge of his addiction and of breaking the law is a key legal threshold required for a conviction.

“They spent hours, I mean literally hours, recounting Hunter Biden’s terrible journey with alcohol and drug use,” Lowell said, chiding prosecutors for reading excerpts from Hunter Biden’s memoir.

But, Lowell said, prosecutors are “blurring Hunter’s intentions at the time of the purchase with what he was “admitting after the fact” in his book.

“Pay close attention” to the real timeline, Lowell told the jury.

Prosecutors have finished their closing arguments in Hunter Biden case. The defense team is beginning theirs.

Abbe Lowell said the jury should make sure that Hunter Biden is not “convicted improperly.”

Reasonable doubt “is not suspicion or conjecture,” Lowell said.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Leo Wise zeroed in on testimony about Hunter Biden’s truck. His daughter Naomi said there weren’t any drugs or drug remnants when she gave the truck back to her dad on October 19.

Hallie Biden testified that she found crack remnants when she searched his care on October 23.

Wise read messages between Hunter Biden and his daughter, Naomi, telling the jury they were evidence of Hunter Biden acting erratically.

Pointing to Naomi’s searing testimony about her father’s addiction, Wise said the reason Naomi was called to the stand “was to suggest he was somehow okay” in October 2018.

But Hunter Biden repeatedly texted his daughter on the early hours of the morning, wise said, trying to get his touch from her.

“This isn’t okay,” Wise said.

Prosecutor Leo Wise said that Hunter Biden messaged with drug dealers in the days around when he bought the gun at the center of this case.

“You see him setting up meetings [with a dealer] right before he bought the gun,” Wise said.

The messages show Hunter Biden’s purchasing drugs “almost in real time,” Wise said.

Wise also attacked Hunter Biden’s defense of text messages sent in the days after he bought the gun about buying and using drugs.

Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s attorney, has argued Hunter Biden made up a drug deal story to avoid seeing Hallie Biden at the time. Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden’s late brother, Beau, was Hunter Biden’s former girlfriend.

“You use your common sense,” Wise said of this theory from the defense, noting if Hunter Biden didn’t want to see Hallie Biden he could have lied earlier about where he was.

“He didn’t need to make up this elaborate story about two drug deals,” Wise said.

Prosecutor Leo Wise also summarized the testimony of three former partners of Hunter Biden’s who testified to his rampant drug use across several years.

Wise highlighted how Hallie Biden saw drug residue in Hunter Biden’s car at the same time she found the gun.

The prosecutor also noted that Zoe Kestan said she saw Hunter Biden use drugs in late September 2018. He purchased the gun on October 12.

“There is overwhelming evidence that he used drugs after the rehab at The View,” in Los Angeles in August 2018, Wise said.

He also noted testimony from Kestan that Hunter Biden smoked in Malibu, weeks after that rehab experience.

“We’re really only talking about a period of 13 days,” Wise said, arguing that Hunter Biden did not get clean after that “supposedly life-changing rehab” stint at The View.

Prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors that evidence showed Hunter Biden “habitually” used illegal drugs around the time of the gun purchase.

“He had lost control,” Wise said, calling Hunter Biden an “addict.”

A main tenant of Hunter Biden’s defense is that the government has not adequately proved he was actively using at the time of the 2018 gun purchase.Wise showed jurors the scores of text messages and images detailing how, according to prosecutors, Hunter Biden coordinated with drug dealers to buy crack and use the drug.

The messages, Wise said, show how Hunter Biden met up with drug dealers in the days around his gun purchase.

Wise also said Hunter Biden’s memoir was “searingly painful” but contained personal and honest information that, in his view, helps prove Hunter Biden’s guilt.

The front row of court was packed with Hunter Biden’s closest relatives eager to show support on what could be the last day of his federal criminal trial.

First lady Jill Biden was flanked by Hunter Biden’s wife on one side, and her daughter Ashley Biden on the right. The Secret Service agent could barely fit on the end of the bench as so many people eager to sit in the front row. The first three rows of court were completely filled with Hunter Biden’s friends and family.

There was a lot of confusion about a sidebar that latest 45 minutes with reporters straining to try and get a glimpse of what defense attorney Abbe Lowell was animatedly arguing about with the judge and prosecutors.

Before lunch, the jury was very attentive when the judge walked them through the jury instructions, reading along line-by-line as the judge spoke them aloud.

As court broke for a brief lunch break, Hunter Biden stopped by the first three rows of the courtroom to glad hand with family and friends that were there showing support.

The prosecutor said the state does not have to prove Hunter Biden used drugs on a specific day to prove their case.

Instead, the standard is that Hunter Biden was “actively engaged” in drugs around the time of the gun purchase, Wise said.

“You can convict on those facts alone,” Wise said.

Wise invoked the testimony of Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, who said she witnessed Hunter Biden smoking crack in September 2018, a few weeks before buying the gun.

“There is no evidence that anyone else possessed the gun from October 12 to October 23, other than the defendant,” prosecutor Leo Wise said of the gun Hunter Biden owned.

This was in reference to count three, unlawful possession of a firearm by the user of a controlled substance.

“Maybe if he had never gone to rehab … he could argue he didn’t know he was an addict,” Wise said of Hunter Biden.

As Hunter Biden’s trial on federal gun charges comes closer to a conclusion, the Biden family called on a family friend and spiritual adviser, the Rev. Christopher Alan Bullock, to attend court today.

Bullock, the seniorpastorof theCanaan Baptist Churchin New Castle, Delaware, told CNN he has known the Biden family since the early 90s. He led a prayer with Hunter Biden inside the courthouse this morning.

Bullock said Hunter’s energy was “very positive, upbeat, but concerned, as he should be.”

“He’s positive. He’s concerned. His family’s here. Supporters are here. Prayer is here and the folk who know and love them are here in good times and in times like these,” Bullock said.

“Love is greater than politics,” he added.

Asked what he spoke about in prayer today, Bullock said, he “evoked the name of God that he would give Hunter strength and that justice would be a reality and give the family peace and unity.”

“We believe, like the Bidens believe, in the power of faith. Whenever you are in a situation like this, not only must you involve the law, but you must know the Lord. So, it’s the law and the Lord, so my job is to keep them in prayer, to provide spiritual and moral support,” Bullock said.

Hunter Biden “knew he used crack” around the time he bought the gun in question in his criminal trial, prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors.

Wise added: “The evidence was personal; it was ugly and overwhelming.”

But, he said, such evidence of drug use and beyond was “necessary,” explaining why prosecutors spent so much time highlighting Hunter Biden’s well-documented struggles with addiction.

Prosecutor Leo Wise tells the jury,“people sitting in the gallery are not evidence. You may recognize them from the news … but respectfully, none of that matters.”

The first lady, Jill Biden, and other family members have been sitting in the gallery for much of the trial.

“Your decision can only be made on evidence,” Wise told the jurors.

“Prosecutors need to prove Hunter Biden’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That is a burden we embrace,” Wise said.

Legal experts concurred that putting Hunter Biden on the stand would have been a “risky” move. The defense rested its case this morning without calling the president’s son to testify.

“I would always advise my clients unless in the most rare occasions not to testify,” said defense attorney Alyse Adamson. “If it is just the prosecution’s case, if the defendant does not testify, then the burden is where it should be, which is on the prosecution. It’s just too risky to have a defendant testify because you don’t know what the prosecution is gonna ask them.”

Judge Maryellen Noreika is now reading the jury instructions.

The instructions outline what the 12-person jury must consider against the defendant and the laws governing their deliberations.

After this, court will go on a lunch break and then have closing arguments.

The prosecution has finished its rebuttal argument after calling FBI agent Erika Jensen.

13 total witnesses testified in the case.

During cross examination, FBI agent Erika Jensen said she did not have location data of where Hunter Biden was when he messaged an individual about meeting at a 7-Eleven.

“It’s Q,” one text on October 11 said, one day before Hunter Biden’s gun purchase. “I’m at 7-11 now.”

“Meet me at 7-11 at 3,” Hunter Biden wrote back.

Erika Jensen is seen in this court sketch.

FBI agent Erika Jensen, who testified at the beginning of the trial, is back on the stand and prosecutors are questioning her.

Prosecutors are asking Jensen about texts that Hunter Biden sent while he was in Wilmington saying he was at a 7-Eleven in town.

This is an important topic because there are only 2 texts of Hunter Biden referring to using or buying drugs in October 2018 when he bought the gun, one of them said he was meeting a dealer named “Mookie” at the 7-Eleven.

The defense has said that, while those texts may exist, they do not prove that Hunter Biden went where he claimed to have gone in the texts, like the 7-Eleven. They also told the jury that “Mookie,” the alleged dealer, might not exist.

Jensen is now telling the jury about other times that Hunter Biden said he went to the 7-Eleven, according to his texts.

The defense has rested its case without calling any more witnesses. They put on testimony from three witnesses on Friday.

Before the proceedings restarted, several men put their arms around Hunter Biden and prayed in a circle.

As the court proceedings are paused, people connected to the Justice Department have stood in the hallway working out what appears to be tech issues. Three individuals huddled over a DOJ computer repeatedly said they were working on “connectivity issues.”

The individuals also referenced several exhibits that needed to be printed. They said, however, that no one was around to operate a printer.

Lawyers were in an extensive sidebar Monday morning, and court is now in a short break. It is not clear what they were discussing.

Hunter Biden watches as his daughter Naomi Biden testifies in court on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.

It was clear that speaking about her father was a very painful subject for Naomi Biden. And even though she is a graduate of Columbia Law School, she appeared very uncomfortable on the stand after the defense called her to testify Friday in the trial against Hunter Biden.

Naomi Biden entered the court on Friday with her husband, and first lady Jill Biden immediately motioned for him to come sit next to her amongthe Biden family and friends who make up at least the first two rows of the courtroom.

Naomi Biden’s testimony focused on two instances in 2018 when she saw her father.

The first was in August or September, when she went to visit her dad in Los Angeles. Hunter Biden had reached out to her to come visit him amid his stint in rehab. He offered to arrange the trip, and Naomi Biden said she agreed to go, even though she had not seen him in quite some time.

On the stand, Naomi Biden came across as genuine and compelling as the child of an addict.

She then testified about a trip to New York City, where Hunter Biden came to pick up a car. She described seeing him at the end of October, and said she felt “hopeful.” Naomi Biden said her father seemed the same as when she had seen him in Los Angeles.

On cross-examination by prosecutor Leo Wise, she again testified about how she had not seen her father recently because “after my uncle died, things got bad,” around 2015.

Prosecutors got her to concede that she really did not know what he was like when he was using drugs, because she had not seen him for quite some time.

Prosecutors seemed to catch Naomi and defense attorney Abbe Lowell off guard when they introduced her to a series of texts sheexchanged with her father during the trip to New York.

Naomi Biden seemed a little confused and reticent when confronted with texts appearing to show her father to be somewhat erratic and non-communicative when trying to arrange the hand off of his car.

She did not remember the exchange and started to appear increasingly uncomfortable when talking about texts her father sent her in the wee hours of the morning about exchanging his car.

As she left the stand, Naomi Biden gave her dad a cool embrace, a kiss on the cheek, and was seen trembling and wiping away tears as she exited the courtroom.

The judge has rejected an attempt by the defense to add more favorable language to the verdict form that jurors will fill out when they finish their deliberations.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers wanted her to add the term “knowledge” for all three charged offenses – because the law requires prosecutors to prove that Hunter Biden knew he was a drug abuser when he bought the gun.

But the judge declined. That term is already in the jury instructions that they’ll hear before they deliberate.

Hunter Biden’s defense attorney Abbe Lowell indicated in court Monday that Hunter Biden will not testify in this case. He agreed to allow the judge to give an instruction to the jury that they shouldn’t hold it against him that he “did not testify” in this case.

The instruction will be read later today to the jury.

However, this is not the same as announcing definitively that Hunter Biden is not testifying.

That would be announced officially when the defense rests its case, in the presence of the jury.

The judge in the Hunter Biden case has rejected several attempts by the defense to add more favorable language to the jury instructions that jurors will hear before they begin deliberations.

The defense wanted Judge Maryellen Noreika to directly instruct the jury that they must acquit Hunter Biden if he didn’t know he was a drug user or addict when he bought and owned the gun in 2018.

The defense also wanted the judge to give extra instructions about the meaning or “reasonable doubt,” but she declined.

The jury has not been brought in yet.

First lady Jill Biden arrives to federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, June 10.

First LadyJillBidenentered the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, as her son’s trial on federal gun charges enters its second week.

AshleyBidenalso arrived at the courthouse

Hunter Biden arrives with his wife Melissa Cohen Biden at the federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 10.

Hunter Biden arrived at the federal courthouse where is facing felony gun charges alongside his wife Melissa Cohen Biden.

Court will resume Monday morning after a week of testimony.

A group of people, including Valerie and James Biden were outside the doors. Hunter kissed Valerie on the cheek and the group walked in together.

A reporter yelled out, “Will you testify?” as Hunter Biden walked out of the motorcade but he didn’t reply.

Hunter Biden sits in court on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.

Special counsel prosecutorsrested their caseagainst Hunter Biden on Friday, and his lawyers said they’ll decide over the weekend whether he testifies in his own defense.

That would be a bold and risky move for President Joe Biden’s son, who could face prison time if he is convicted of the felony gun charges that he’s facing. He has pleaded not guilty to lying on federal background check forms about his drug use and to possessing a gun while addicted to drugs.

The defense began presenting its case on Friday, calling Biden’s daughter Naomi Biden, who said she was “nervous” and appeared uncomfortable at times, including when confronted by prosecutors about some difficult texts with her father.

Here’s what to know about the fifth day of the trial: