By Priscilla DeGregory | New York Post
What a long, strange trip it’s been.
Five years and one month after first son Hunter Biden dropped off three damaged laptops at a repair shop in Wilmington, Del., and never returned to pick them up, a Delaware federal judge ruled that jurors at the 54-year-old’s upcoming trial on weapons charges can be shown damaging evidence about his illegal drug use taken from his hard drive, his iPhone and iPad and his own memoir.
As Hunter looked on in court — one day after attending a White House state dinner — US District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Wilmington ruled that the “laptop from hell” could not be barred out of hand based on his legal team’s claim it had been hacked and seeded with false information.
However, Noreika did rule that the first son’s attorneys can object to the introduction of specific pieces of information from the laptop as prosecutors — who say there is no evidence that the computer was ever compromised — seek to raise them during trial, which begins with jury selection June 3.
The item-by-item nature of Noreika’s ruling is likely to lead to explosive disagreements between prosecutors and the defense, and could stretch the case beyond its expected one-week time frame.
The Post first reported on the laptop’s contents — which included evidence of influence-peddling, illegal foreign lobbying, drug use and prostitution — in October 2020, only for Big Tech companies like Facebook and Twitter to suppress sharing of the story while dozens of former intelligence officials attacked the report as having “all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation.”
In fact, as one IRS whistleblower told Congress last year, the FBI had authenticated the laptop and its information as early as November 2019.
The Biden scion — who didn’t answer questions from the media on his way in and out of court — is accused of three counts related to illegal ownership of a gun while addicted to crack cocaine. He faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted on all charges.
Prosecutors from the office of special counsel David Weiss — who was present for Friday’s hearing — need to prove to the jury that Hunter was using the addictive street drug around the time he bought the Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver on Oct. 12, 2018.
However, in a key win for Hunter’s dad’s Justice Department, Noreika ruled they don’t have to prove the defendant used drugs on the day of the purchase.
Prosecutors can also introduce evidence of Hunter’s drug use via a summary chart of more than 18,000 records from his iPad and iPhone, as well as portions of his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” in which Biden described being addicted to drugs around the time of the firearm purchase.
Hunter’s lawyers had asked Noreika to keep more salacious evidence against their client — including that he blew money on “adult entertainment, online chat rooms, or escort services” — out of the case, arguing it posed “significant risk of unfair prejudice.”
Charges against Hunter Biden
COUNT 1: False Statement in Purchase of a Firearm
Faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
COUNT 2: False Statement Related to Information Required to be Kept by Federal Firearms Licensed Dealer
Faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
COURT 3: Possession of a Firearm by a Person who is an Unlawful User of or Addicted to a Controlled Substance
Faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
Prosecutors didn’t have it all their own way Friday, with Noreika ruling that Hunter’s pending Southern California trial on tax evasion charges, his Arkansas child support case, and his 2014 discharge from the US Navy Reserve after failing a cocaine test could not be mentioned in front of the jury.
However, the judge warned that “there’s a number of issues that may become more contentious should Mr. Biden testify.”
The judge also agreed to allow Biden’s attorneys to introduce wider selections of “Beautiful Things” after the defense accused prosecutors of cherry-picking from the book.
Noreika did not immediately rule on a defense request to introduce an altered version of the gun purchase form filled out by Hunter Biden, which lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell claimed was significantly changed by employees after the sale.
Prosecutors say there were only minor additions unrelated to the questions answered by the younger Biden.
Hunter is set to stand trial in Los Angeles beginning Sept. 5 on charges that he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes for the years 2016 through 2019, with prosecutors saying he spent that money on an “extravagant” lifestyle — including “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.”
While prosecutors can’t specifically mention the tax case, Noreika ruled, they can present evidence of Hunter’s spendthrift ways.
Noreika also ruled that the jury can’t hear about the plea deal Hunter was slated to take last summer — before it blew up in court after prosecutors said the agreement wouldn’t shield him from the tax charges.
Hunter’s side has tried unsuccessfully to dismiss both the gun charges and the tax case, arguing that both prosecutions are strategically timed to harm President Biden’s re-election effort.
