They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, so when his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, took the stand in Wilmington, Delaware, as a prosecution witness, Hunter Biden could be forgiven for preparing.
Dressed in a smart blue pantsuit and white shirt, Kathleen was the picture of calm as she told the court how she discovered her then-husband was using drugs when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on their porch on July 3, 2015.
It was the day after their twelfth anniversary and two days before she kicked him out of the house forever. Kathleen told the court she confronted him and “he admitted to smoking crack.”
Even before finding the incriminating paraphernalia, Kathleen admitted that she had suspected her husband of drug use, since he had previously been kicked out of the Navy for testing positive for cocaine.
“I was definitely worried and scared,” she said.
Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, is seen leaving federal court after taking the stand at his criminal trial on Wednesday.
Kathleen, 55, filed for divorce from Hunter in December 2016 after 24 years of marriage, telling the court when she first found a crack pipe in her home and how she hid drugs in her car from her daughters.
When asked during cross-examination if he had ever seen Hunter doing drugs, he admitted “no,” but on redirect, when asked how he knew he was, he bluntly said, “He told me.”
He added: “I assumed he was still using when I found the pipes in the car,” something he said had happened “about twelve times.”
The courtroom is a very familiar meeting point for these two ex-spouses, as Kathleen is still pursuing Hunter for $2.9 million in unpaid alimony in a case that continues to simmer in the D.C. courts.
As he watched his ex take the stand, Hunter might as well have wished he had taken the stand.
Instead, as recently as last year, his lawyers testified that he continued to inflict enormous “expense and emotional toll” on the woman who bore him three children.
Kathleen, 55, filed for divorce from Hunter in December 2016 after 24 years of marriage.
And no matter how unremarkable the reasons are (‘irreconcilable differences between the parties regarding the conduct of the accused’), the divorce would turn out to be one of the dirtiest in DC.
The move came a year after reports that the couple had formally separated in October 2015, three months after she allegedly kicked him out of her home on July 5, 2015, due to “his behavior the night before.” “.
Kathleen didn’t give any details of what that conduct might be in her initial divorce filing, but later documents shed some light by citing “drug use and infidelity” as the main motivators for the separation.
Hunter, who is on trial for lying about his drug addiction on a federal form to purchase a gun, was photographed arriving at a federal courthouse in Delaware with his wife Melissa Cohen on Wednesday morning.
It was revealed that the mother of three, who now goes by Buhle, was pursuing her ex-husband for more than $1.7 million in alimony, legal fees and interest following their 2017 divorce.
Kathleen and Hunter share three daughters, (left to right) Finnegan, 23, Naomi, 30, and Maisy, 22.
Several months after filing for divorce, Kathleen returned to court to ask that her marital assets be frozen and that “all funds obtained prior to a full and final resolution…be placed in escrow.”
From that, the motion called for Kathleen to receive an allowance of $20,000 a month, while Hunter received only $5,000.
The February 2017 filing came immediately after Kathleen discovered that Hunter “was in possession of a large diamond, upon information and belief, worth approximately $80,000.”
Hunter initially denied ownership of the stone when asked to place it in a safe deposit box accessible only to him and his ex, but later admitted to having it.
In February filings, Kathleen’s attorneys stated that Hunter was the sole provider throughout the marriage and had been sending a monthly stipend of $17,000 to Kathleen and her three daughters: Naomi, Finnegan and Maisy.
But, they claimed, in 2016 that amount was suddenly reduced to $7,500, although Hunter’s spending on himself and his “hobbies” continued apace.
According to Kathleen, while Hunter neglected the needs of his ex-wife and children, he had nothing but deep pockets for “drugs, alcohol, prostitution, strip clubs, and gifts for the women he had sex with.”
Just two months after filing for divorce, Hunter had maxed out his credit cards, incurred a host of other expenses, including taxes, worth $313,970, and exhausted Kathleen’s patience.
According to her, Hunter’s conduct “creates unsafe or traumatic situations for the parties and their children and their judgment is often impaired.”
The 12 jurors in the case have been shown a video of a shirtless Hunter smoking a pipe.
Buhle, who was photographed leaving federal court on Tuesday, made no secret of her disdain for Hunter’s alleged wild lifestyle, according to previously reported divorce reports.
First lady Jill Biden was seen returning to federal court on Wednesday for the third day of the trial. She has attended proceedings to support her stepson since the trial began Monday.
In the gutting motion, Kathleen noted that while Hunter spent lavishly on himself and his “interests,” he “has not provided sufficient support to meet (her) children’s needs.”
Perhaps unnecessarily, given the tone and content of the presentation, Kathleen’s attorney assured the court that “there is no reasonable expectation or expectation of a reconciliation between the parties.”
The motion was filed just days before it was revealed that Hunter was dating his brother Beau’s widow, Hallie, a relationship destined to end in a torrent of desperate text messages, addiction and recrimination. And another woman prepared to testify for the prosecution.
Kathleen’s latest quest for the alimony she claims she is owed began with a court filing in 2019. Under their separation agreement obtained by Axios, Hunter was required to pay Kathleen $37,000 a month and 50 percent of his income. , the equivalent of more than $875,000 a year.
But Kathleen and her lawyers maintain that Hunter failed to pay money owed in 2017 and 2018, a period in which they allege he earned more than $2 million a year. And according to Kathleen, the payments stopped completely when she filed her lawsuit.
