Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi was ambushed with devastating text messages that blew a hole in her father’s defense in the federal gun trial.
First Lady Jill Biden watched from the gallery as her granddaughter testified about interactions with her father in rehab and when he was in the depths of a crack addiction.
It came on another dramatic day at the trial, where the prosecution concluded its case after less than a week and Naomi was questioned about life with her father.
At first, cross-examined by Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, she painted a rosy picture of Hunter’s sobriety in the run-up to the October 2018 gun purchase for which he is accused.
Naomi said she visited Hunter with her then-boyfriend Peter in Los Angeles in August 2018, where Hunter had been undergoing a brief period of rehab.
“It seemed the clearest I’d seen him since my uncle died,” he said, referring to Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer on May 30, 2015.
“He seemed really cool,” Naomi added. “I told him I was very proud of him and very proud to be able to introduce him to Peter.”
Naomi Biden leaves the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday, June 7, 2024, after testifying in the trial of her father Hunter Biden.
Naomi Biden (C), daughter of Hunter Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 7, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Hunter has been accused of lying on a federal form when he purchased a gun in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 12, 2018, and indicated that he did not use drugs.
Naomi was testifying in her defense on the fifth day of Hunter’s trial as First Lady Jill Biden watched from the public benches.
Jill Biden had traveled 3,500 miles to be there after being in France on Thursday for D-Day commemorations, where she and President Joe Biden met with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron.
In court, Naomi described how she borrowed her father’s Ford pickup truck and that in the week of October 15, Hunter drove Joe Biden’s Cadillac to New York to trade it with her.
She said that when she saw him then, just a few days after purchasing the gun, “he seemed cool” and “he seemed hopeful.”
But then prosecutor Leo Wise began his cross-examination, handing Naomi, Lowell and the judge 20 pages of text messages between her and Hunter from that time.
Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, in federal court for his trial on criminal weapons charges in Wilmington, Delaware.
Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, arrive at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 7, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Text messages showed Hunter didn’t show up to the arranged car swap, and when she texted him on the afternoon of October 17, he didn’t respond until almost midnight, when he wrote, ‘Are you awake?’
Hunter then woke Naomi up by texting her at 2 a.m., asking, “where are the keys to the truck? Can Peter take them to 57th and 5th?”
Visibly worried, Naomi hesitated on the stand, muttering into the microphone, prompting Wise to ask her to repeat what she had said, saying: “I don’t remember any of this.”
Text messages showed that Naomi tried again, unsuccessfully, to swap cars with her father the next day, and that he told her he wouldn’t see her in New York.
‘So we don’t see each other?!’ Naomi wrote, followed by an unhappy face. ‘I’m so sorry dad, I can’t stand this. I miss you a lot. I just want to hang out with you.
Finally, Hunter responded at 10:30 p.m. on October 18: “I’m sorry I’ve been so unreachable.” It is not fair for you.
A photograph of the weapon presented as evidence at trial.
First lady Jill Biden and her senior advisor Anthony Bernal arrive at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 7, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware.
His father’s apparent untrustworthiness during those crucial days got to the heart of the defense’s case: that Hunter was trustworthy when he was sober and that he was allegedly trustworthy in mid-October 2018 when he purchased the gun claiming he was not a sex abuser. drugs.
The final blow came with a devastating series of questions from Wise.
“Did he tell you he was meeting someone named Frankie?” she asked, reminding the jury of earlier evidence about one of Hunter’s dealers by that name. “No,” Naomi said.
“Did he tell you that he gave Frankie an access code to his Wells Fargo account?” Said the wise man. “I don’t remember,” said Noemí.
He later admitted that it wasn’t until October 19 that he was finally able to get the car back.
Hallie Biden, daughter-in-law of US President Joe Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building after testifying in Hunter Biden’s trial on June 6, 2024.
Media gather outside the US Courthouse of the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building, Friday, June 7, 2024
Naomi was dressed all in black, with a black jacket over dark, baggy clothing.
It has been speculated that she is pregnant with her now husband Peter’s child.
Naomi seemed on the verge of tears, wiping one eye as she walked out after hugging her father.
During Lowell’s initial questioning, he appeared to gain a point by asking Naomi to describe the cleanliness of Hunter’s Ford Raptor pickup truck when he drove it to New York the week of October 15, 2018.
Hallie Biden had testified earlier in the week that the car had been covered in clothing, drug remains and paraphernalia, and that the center console safe was broken and ajar two inches with Hunter’s revolver and bullets inside.
The gun store where Hunter Biden bought a revolver
A photograph presented as evidence at trial.
But Naomi said the console was closed and locked, because she and Peter tried to break into it.
However, Wise in his cross-examination was able to make it clear to the jury that the alleged disorder of the car and the drugs appearing there must have occurred when it was in Hunter’s possession, after he received it on October 19 and before Hallie searched it. . on October 23.
He suggested that Hunter was using drugs in that period, while still in possession of his Colt Cobra .38 Special that he purchased on October 12.
An image presented as evidence.
More evidence presented by the prosecution
When Wise handed Lowell the 20 pages of explosive text messages, he exclaimed, “This is the first time we’ve seen them.”
The judge dismissed his concerns and told him that “it is an (interrogation)” in which prosecutors can surprise with that type of evidence.
In fact, Lowell admitted in court Thursday that his team had access to the entirety of Hunter’s abandoned laptop from which the texts were extracted, meaning he should have been able to anticipate such an ambush.
After Naomi and the jury left for lunch break, the defense team gathered and had a whispered conversation.