Hunter Biden attorneys consider calling him to testify on criminal charges next week

Credit: William J. Hennessy Jr.

Prosecutor Leo Wise asked Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's daughter, about the condition of Hunter’s truck when she borrowed it roughly a week after Hunter purchased the gun.

Naomi said she did not see anything like “remnants” of cocaine in the truck, or any other drug paraphernalia.

This detail is key because she gives the truck back to Hunter on Oct.19. Four days later, on Oct. 23, Hallie Biden finds the gun in the truck. She also finds what she called “remnants” of crack cocaine and some paraphernalia, such as a crack pipe, along with the gun.

She called it a “dusting” of powder. This is key because at this point Hunter Biden had the truck.

The government is trying to show that he was using crack between Oct. 19 and Oct. 23., only one week after he bought the gun and filled out the form at the center of the whole case, where he checked a box that said he was not at the time a user “or addicted to” any controlled substances.

Fox News' Jake Gibson contributed to this update.

The fifth day of Hunter Biden's trial for federal gun charges has concluded.

Court adjourned for the day around 1:50 p.m. ET. Hunter Biden departed at 2:03 p.m. ET.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said he will decide over the weekend whether he will call Hunter to the stand. That decision will come over the weekend and Lowell, who departed from court shortlt after 2 p.m. ET, said he would notify the office of Special Counsel David Weiss to tell them the decision.

If the defense does call Hunter to the stand, the prosecution indicated they may put on a rebuttal witness.

James Biden, the president's brother, was seen departing the courthouse at 1:40 p.m. ET.

James Biden was one of a handful of individuals expected to be called to the stand by the defense to testify.

Court resumes at 8:15 a.m. ET on Monday.

Fox News' Emma Colton and David Spunt contributed to this update.

Former assistant District Attorney Phil Holloway joined Harris Faulkner on the Faulkner Focus on the Fox News Channel on Friday to discuss the latest developments in the federal gun crime trial of Hunter Biden, and how his defense team is trying to "evoke sympathy" from the jury.

"I think if the jury is paying attention to the presentation that the prosecutors are putting on, the presentation that's occurring in the front of the courtroom, these witnesses did a lot of damage to Hunter Biden," said Holloway.

"[I]t's obvious that at the relevant time when he bought that gun, he was both addicted to drugs and he was also an unlawful user of drugs, particularly I think crack cocaine being the big one," he continued.

"But here's the thing, Harris. There's another presentation that's taking place in that courtroom, and it's for the benefit of the jury. The presence of the First Lady, the presence of the rest of the Biden family, all that stuff is there for the jury to see. The defense has orchestrated it for the benefit of the jury," he said.

"They're trying to evoke sympathy. This is in the Biden's backyard. There's bound to be people on that jury who have great affection for at least some of the Bidens," he added.

"So this is an effort to get jury nullification which is of course when the jury says okay, maybe he's he's guilty, the evidence is there, but we're gonna give him a pass anyway, that's they have the power to do it. The lawyers cannot directly ask for it, but they're doing it in the way that you see playing out in the courtroom," he said.

Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's daughter, concluded her emotional testimony in her father's ongoing gun trial shortly before the court broke for lunch on Friday.

When Naomi took the stand, Hunter dabbed his eyes with a tissue. He paid close attention to Naomi. She seemed uncomfortable on the stand.

Under cross-examination, Naomi was asked by prosecutor Leo Wise if she knew her father had been doing drugs.

"Yes, I knew that he was struggling with addiction," she said. "After my uncle died things got bad…"

Asked whether she had witnessed her father using drugs, Naomi said, "No, I never saw him use."

When Naomi left the room she was in tears and hugged her dad. 

Jill Biden and the president's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, looked upset when they walked out of the courtroom with Hunter.

The court broke for lunch around 12:45 p.m.

Fox News' David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this update.

Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's eldest daughter, testified that her father was in rehab and seemed to be doing better in the summer of 2018.

She testified as a defense witness that she visited him in Los Angeles and that he seemed the clearest "since my uncle (Beau Biden) died."

Naomi said she told Hunter that she was "proud of him."

Defense attorneys have argued that prosecutors have not sufficiently proven that Hunter Biden was actively using drugs around the time he purchased a gun in October 2018. Biden is charged with lying on a federal form to purchase the firearm that he was not an active drug user or addicted to narcotics.

Naomi Biden also testified that in mid-October 2018 -- after the gun purchase -- she drove Hunter's truck from D.C. to New York, and didn't find any drugs in the car.

She told the court at the start of her testimony that she was "nervous."

Naomi Biden is the third witness called by defense attorney Abbe Lowell. The prosecution rested it's case Friday morning.

One of the prosecution's star witnesses was Hallie Biden, Beau Biden's widow, who testified that she believed Hunter Biden was likely on drugs in mid-October 2018.

Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Ronald Palimere, the owner of StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply, took the stand briefly in court on Friday and was questioned by the defense on whether he rushed the sale of the firearm to Hunter Biden.

Palimere said he never talked or met with Biden in the show room. He also didn't remember anything about the background check.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell asked him if he was trying to rush the sale in anyway.

“I was trying not to hold him up,” Palimere responded.

The witness only took questions from the defense. The prosecution decided not to follow-up with questions.

Naomi Biden, the eldest daughter of Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhle, looks on in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., on September 27, 2023. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The defense has called Naomi Biden, the eldest daughter of Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhle, to the stand.

Naomi's mother testified earlier this week in the trial.

Buhle said during Wednesday's testimony she discovered Hunter was using drugs when they were married and that she found a crack pipe on an ashtray on the side porch of their D.C. home on July 3, 2015.

Buhle also said when Hunter was using drugs he was “not himself” and “angry, short tempered, and acting in ways he didn’t when he was sober.” She said he was “smoking crack the day after our anniversary.”

James Biden, the brother of President Biden, and his wife Sara Jones Biden arrive to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 07, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

James Biden, the president's brother, and Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's adult daughter, have arrived at court.

Fox News expects the defense to call Naomi, 30, and James Biden, 75, as witnesses in the trial.

Both James and Naomi arrived at court shortly after 11 a.m., minutes apart from one another.

Fox News' Jake Gibson contributed to this update

Defense called for the first witness Friday morning -- Jason Turner, the StarQuest Shooters employee who did the background check on Hunter Biden.

Prosecutors questioned DEA Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Romig -- considered an expert witness on drug trafficking -- on various terms commonly used to refer to drug, and how drugs like crack cocaine get into the United States.

The prosecution brought up text messages between Hunter Biden and various dealers, and family members throughout 2018-19, including messages with Hallie Biden.

They asked Romig to identify what might be meant by texts Hunter sent.

For example, when Hunter Biden asked for "baby powder" or "soft powder," Romig said that was code for powder cocaine.

Romig described what a "chore boy" is to the jury -- a scouring pad and filter for a crack pipe that is very common.

He also identified various pictures of Hunter using a crack pipe, or something similar, and videos of scales and drugs he texted.

In cross-examination, Abbe Lowell walks through each text message that the prosecution just had Romig read and identify different words that appeared to be related to drugs.

Lowell went through text messages from October 2018, asking about the message where Hunter says he was "sleeping on a car smoking crack."

Lowell asked Romig if he knows whether Hunter was actually "on a car smoking crack" at the time the message was sent, to which Romig said "no."

Lowell asked Romig if any of the text messages from August to October 2018 make references to "baby powder," "soft stuff," "party favor," "grams," "fentan," "choreboy" or have photos of Romig testified that the text messages during 2018 - early 2019 are consistent with someone using drugs. 

Romig testified that Hunter's cash withdrawals and the content of the text messages during this time period indicate that some of the cash was likely being used to buy drugs. 

Lowell questioned Romig again and asked if the cash could have been used to buy really anything, to which Romig said, yes. 

Fox News' James Levinson and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

The prosecution on Friday called Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Romig to the witness stand. 

Special Counsel David Weiss and his team expect Romig to offer opinions, based on his training and experience, regarding the coded messages sent by Hunter Biden.

Dr. Jason Brewer, who is considered an expert witness in the field of forensic chemistry, testified Friday that the testing he conducted on the brown leather patch used by Hunter Biden to store the gun contained cocaine residue.

The prosecution presented government exhibit 4 to Brewer on the stand, and showed pictures of that exhibit, which is the brown pouch where the gun was stored.

Inside the flaps, and on the bag, a small amount of white powder was seen. Samples of it were taken by Brewer.

Based on the testing conducted by Brewer, his conclusion was that residuals of cocaine were identified in the sample. He could not specify whether it was crack specifically because there was such a small sample.

Brewer could only tell if there were drugs present. He cannot speak to anything about who put them there and when the cocaine was put there.

Under cross-examination by the defense, Brewer was asked if his testing indicated when the cocaine residue got on the leather pouch and who put it there. Brewer said it did not.

The defense also asked Brewer if he tested the pouch for fingerprints. He said he didn't and that the testing was just a chemistry examination of the residue.

Fox News' James Levinson and Aubrie Spady contributed to this update

The jury was seated for the fifth day of Hunter Biden's gun crime trial on Friday.

Shortly after, Dr. Jason Brewer, a forensic chemist, was called by the prosecution to the witness stand.

Brewer is expected to be asked about his analysis of the brown leather pouch that allegedly belonged to Biden and his opinion that the residue is cocaine based on his testing and evidence, prosecutors said ahead of his testimony.

House Republicans are sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending Hunter Biden and James Biden be charged with making false statements to Congress about "key aspects" of the impeachment inquiry of President Biden, Fox News Digital has learned. 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., who have been leading the inquiry, sent the criminal referrals to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Special Counsel David Weiss on Wednesday, saying the alleged false statements "implicate Joe Biden’s knowledge and role in his family’s influence peddling schemes and appear to be a calculated effort to shield Joe Biden from the impeachment inquiry." 

House Republicans allege Hunter Biden "falsely distanced himself from a corporate entity — Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC — and its bank account (Rosemont Seneca Bohai Bank Account) that was the recipient of millions of dollars from foreign individuals and foreign entities who met with then-Vice President Biden before and after transmitting money to the Rosemont Seneca Bohai Bank Account that then transferred funds to Hunter Biden." 

"Hunter Biden made additional false statements as to whether he held positions at Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC. After deposing Hunter Biden, the Committees obtained documents showing Hunter Biden represented that he was the corporate secretary," they wrote. "Additionally, Hunter Biden during his testimony relayed an entirely fictitious account about threatening text messages he sent to his Chinese business partner while invoking his father’s presence with him as he wrote the messages. Hunter Biden told the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee he had transmitted this threat to an unrelated individual with the same surname. However, documents released by the Committee on Ways and Means demonstrate conclusively that Hunter Biden made this threat to the intended individual, and bank records prove Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners wired millions of dollars to him after his threat." 

They added: "A portion of the proceeds has been traced to Joe Biden’s bank account."

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this update.

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley called out media outlets and reporters who spread false claims about Hunter Biden's laptop and have now reversed since it was introduced as evidence in Biden's gun crime trial.

In a Fox News Digital op-ed, Turley identified ABC, NBC, CBS and the Washington Post, among others, as news organizations that had attempted to discredit the laptop's authenticity. 

"Yet, what followed the testimony of FBI agent Erika Jensen was absolute crickets," Turley wrote. "There was no effort to track down the signatories of the now-debunked letter from former intelligence officials just before the election. In the letter, figures such as Leon Panetta, former CIA director in the Obama administration, claimed that the letter had all the markings of a Russian disinformation effort by intelligence services." 

"There was no attempt by the media to confront associates of the Biden campaign (including now Secretary of State Antony Blinken) who pushed a long effort to get former intelligence officials to sign a letter," he continued. 

"There was no attempt to question President Joe Biden, who made this false claim in the presidential election to deflect any questions about the evidence of corrupt influence peddling on the laptop." 

Fran Person, Joe Biden, and Hunter Biden (Getty Images)

One of President Biden’s top former advisers , who has been a business partner of a wealthy Chinese businessman with multiple CCP ties for nearly a decade, appeared in the Delaware courtroom with Hunter Biden’s friends and family on Monday to support him during the jury selection process for his gun trial, Fox News Digital confirmed.

Francis "Fran" Person, who served in the Obama administration as an adviser to the elder Biden and a special assistant to President Obama between 2009 and 2014, was spotted sitting with Hunter Biden’s family and friends, which included first lady Jill Biden, his sister, Ashley Biden, his wife, Melissa, among others.

Person, who was described in a 2014 Politico profile piece as the elder Biden’s "confidante" and "like a son to Joe and me," according to Jill Biden, has been close friends with Hunter for over a decade and was often his point of contact in the VP office when Hunter was trying to reach his dad. The elder Biden also praised Person in the profile piece highlighting his departure from the White House to South Carolina, saying, "People know that he has my ear whenever he wants it."

Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller, Cameron Cawthorne and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this update.

The FBI is remaining silent on the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop nearly four years after its refusal to verify its authenticity caused social media companies to bury stories about it ahead of the 2020 election.

The FBI said it had "no comment" when asked by Fox News Digital if the bureau had any regrets about not acknowledging the authenticity of Biden’s laptop now that it has been introduced as evidence in Biden’s criminal gun trial.

The existence of the laptop was first revealed by the New York Post in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election between now-President Biden and former President Trump, with the outlet reporting on contents on the laptop it claimed detailed the Biden family’s influence peddling scheme.

Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter were quick to act and limit distribution of the New York Post story on the laptop, with Twitter banning links to the story from being posted on its platform. Meanwhile, Facebook temporarily reduced the reach of posts containing stories about the laptop until it could be verified by independent fact-checkers.

According to reporting from the Atlantic, Facebook’s decision to limit distribution of the story was based on an FBI warning that social media companies watch for disinformation in the weeks leading up to the election. That fact was seized upon in a House Judiciary Committee letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray last year, with lawmakers questioning why the FBI refused to verify the authenticity of the laptop despite knowledge that the device was not part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

"The FBI’s failure to alert social-media companies that the Hunter Biden laptop was real, and not mere Russian disinformation, is particularly troubling," the letter to Wray read. "The FBI had the laptop in their possession since December 2019 and had warned social-media companies to look for a ‘hack and dump’ operation by the Russians prior to the 2020 election. Even after Facebook specifically asked whether the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation, [Laura] Dehmlow of the FBI refused to comment, resulting in the social-media companies’ suppression of the story. As a result, millions of U.S. citizens did not hear the story prior to the November 3, 2020 election."

Fox News Digital's Michael Lee contributed to this update.

The "Russian information operation" narrative that was pushed by dozens of former intelligence officials and amplified by the Biden campaign a couple weeks before the 2020 election took a major blow this week when the federal government entered Hunter Biden’s laptop into evidence for his gun trial.

After years of the authenticity of the laptop being downplayed by former intel officials, prominent Democrats, and the White House, Hunter’s laptop was officially entered into evidence by Biden's Department of Justice and is being used to attempt to prove that Biden was addicted to drugs at the time he purchased a gun in 2018, a violation of federal law. 

The laptop was introduced by prosecutor Derek Hines and handed to FBI agent Erika Jensen, who explained earlier this week how the FBI authenticated the laptop and extracted data. For the gun trial, she testified about dozens of text messages, metadata, photos and short videos found on phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Biden. 

One of the most significant denials of the authenticity of the laptop came two weeks before the 2020 presidential election when 51 former intelligence officials claimed in a letter that the laptop may have been fabricated by Russia to influence the presidential election. 

The crafting of that memo, which was ultimately published by Politico, involved coordination between the Biden campaign and the former officials, House Republicans concluded in an investigation.  

Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this update.

US President Joe Biden, left, and Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, right, during the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

President Biden said on Thursday he will not pardon his son Hunter and will accept the verdict in the ongoing felony gun trial. 

In an interview with ABC News' David Muir in Normandy, France, Biden was asked whether he would accept the results of the federal trial underway in Delaware, which he replied "yes."

And when asked whether he would rule out pardoning Hunter if convicted, Biden also answered "yes."

Biden also doubled down on his stance following the conviction of former President Trump in the New York trial over falsifying business records. 

"He's trying to undermine it," Biden told Muir. "He got a fair trial. The jury spoke."

Hunter Biden was charged with federal gun crimes including making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

At the center of the case was his claim in the gun registration document that he was not taking any illegal drugs when he was purchasing a firearm in 2018. 

The charges were brought after his plea agreement with Special Counsel David Weiss fell apart under scrutiny by the judge overseeing the case. Republican critics at the time slammed what they called a "sweetheart deal."

Biden has pleaded not guilty. 

Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this update.

Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop, which was originally dismissed as Russian disinformation by many media outlets, pundits and even liberal allies in the intelligence community, was formally entered into evidence and confirmed by the FBI this week in his ongoing federal gun crime trial. 

The "laptop from hell," which is filled with videos and photos of drug use, sex acts, and sensitive business communications, was shown to the jury on Tuesday to try to prove the president's son lied about using drugs on a gun purchase form. While the laptop has since been authenticated by a variety of news outlets, it was rejected when the New York Post first reported it in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election. Twitter, claiming the story violated its terms of service on hacked materials, locked the New York Post out of its account for weeks and even blocked users from sharing the story link.

Former New York Post deputy politics editor Emma-Jo Morris, who had the lead byline on the initial bombshell report, said she didn’t need a laptop to be confirmed by the FBI or mainstream outlets to feel vindicated.

"I thought it was insane, and almost beyond parody what I was watching, as the entire political establishment, intelligence community, media establishment, big tech, everyone just made up a story that I knew wasn't true," Morris, now at Breitbart News, told Fox News Digital. 

"It's kind of funny now to watch them all have to walk back this kind of crazy, outrageous claim that they had all made," she continued. "But I was vindicated the minute we pressed publish."

Fox News Digital's Brian Flood, Nikolas Lanum and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this update.

Prosecutors said they will call two more witnesses on Friday and may rest their arguments by mid-morning.

The two remaining prosecution witnesses are Dr. Jason Brewer, a forensic chemist, and DEA Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Romig.

Brewer will be asked about his analysis of the brown leather pouch that allegedly belonged to Biden and his opinion that the residue is cocaine based on his testing and evidence, prosecutors said in their trial brief.

Romig may be called as an expert witness on "coded messages" allegedly sent by Biden, which will prove his drug use and support the government's allegation that Biden lied on a federal form when he purchased his gun.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said he may call two to three witnesses before the trial concludes. He suggested the defense may rest as early as Monday.

It is unclear if the defense team will call Hunter Biden to testify.

Court resumes Friday at 9 a.m. and concludes for the week at 4:30 p.m.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this update.

An evidence photo presented by the prosecution shows the gun that Hunter Biden purchased. (U.S. Government Exhibit)

In addition to hearing testimony from Hallie Biden, the court on Thursday also heard witnesses including the gun shop employee who sold Hunter Biden the gun in 2018, Gordon Cleveland; Delaware State Police Trooper Joshua Marley, who responded to Janssen's Market when Hallie Biden filled a police report; former Delaware State Police Lt. Millard Greer; and an elderly man, Edward Banner, who discovered Hunter Biden’s discarded gun in the trash can.

Banner, an 80-year-old man who is hard of hearing, elicited chuckles and laughter from the court for his responses to both prosecutor Derek Hines and Hunter Biden’s attorney, Lowell, on Thursday. The elderly man took the stand with the assistance of presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika, who hopped out of her leather chair to help seat Banner.

Hines and Lowell both questioned Banner from just feet away from the witness stand, as he could not hear them otherwise. Banner, a former employee of General Motors and a Navy veteran, recounted to the court that he has long gone through trash bins looking for materials to recycle in an effort to make money – "especially now with gas prices," he quipped. 

Surveillance footage was played in court that showed Banner retrieving the gun from the trash can outside of Janssen's Market. He said he remembered finding the gun, though not the exact day. He took the gun to his home and stored it in a box with another firearm he said he received from a former GM employee. He told the court he also remembered when a police officer, Greer, tracked him down and ultimately took the pistol into custody.

Banner was an apparent delight to the jury, who chuckled at his remarks throughout the testimony, including when Hines asked him how long he’s been married. Banner said he believes he’s been married 11 years but that his wife would "know better than I do." Hunter Biden was also seen smiling as Banner spoke before the court.

After Banner wrapped his testimony, Noreika joked with the attorneys that their up-close and personal questioning of the man at the witness stand was "not like in the movies."

"No, it’s not the same as when Perry Mason did it," Lowell joked in response.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report.

A court sketch depicts Hallie Biden testifying on the stand during Hunter Biden’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

Hallie Biden was matter-of-fact in her responses to prosecutors on Thursday as they peppered her with questions about her relationship with Hunter Biden, how she learned Hunter Biden was a crack cocaine user, and the events surrounding her tossing out his gun in a panic in October 2018.

"I found [crack] and googled it because I didn’t know what it was," Hallie Biden told the court of the first time she saw the drug in her home. "[Hunter Biden] told me what it was, crack cocaine."

Hallie Biden, who testified under immunity, said she smoked crack cocaine and even accompanied Hunter Biden on drug deals. She became sober by August 2018.

The widowed mother of two was joined in court by her husband, John Hopkins Anning, who she married just last weekend.

She was grilled by both prosecutors and the defense team surrounding her discovery of Hunter Biden’s gun in the console of his truck on her property in Wilmington. She explained that after not seeing Hunter Biden for a while, he visited her home late Oct. 22, 2018, or early Oct. 23 and that he looked "tired, exhausted" and "could have been" on drugs. 

After dropping her children off at school on the morning of Oct. 23, Hallie Biden went over to clean out Hunter Biden’s truck to rid it of any potential drugs or alcohol in an effort to help his sobriety.

"Aside from trash and clothes, I found remnants of crack cocaine, paraphernalia — oh, and the gun, obviously," she said. 

Hallie Biden said she "panicked" when she found the gun, which was accompanied by a box of ammunition and a couple of loose bullets, and placed anything that appeared related to the firearm in a leather pouch she also found in the truck. She then placed the pouch in a shopping bag.

"I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them," she said of the pistol and box of ammo. "I didn’t want him to hurt himself or [for] my kids to find it and hurt themselves."

She then drove to a nearby grocery store, called Janssen’s Market, and tossed the gun in a trash can located outside the store. The court was presented with surveillance footage of her dropping the bag containing the pouch and gun into the receptacle.

She told the court that she was "flustered" after discovering the firearm and now realizes it was a "stupid idea" that she made when she "panicked." 

Hallie Biden walked the court through her messages and phone calls with Hunter Biden after she disposed of the gun. 

"I was just going to pretend like it wasn’t me," she said, before Hunter Biden discovered his firearm was missing and texted her: "Did you take that from me?"

The first son apparently became angry with her actions regarding the gun, demanding she return to the market and "look for it." She said that after her attempts to locate the pistol in the trash can, Hunter Biden told her to contact police and file a report.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this update.

Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend, Hallie Biden, took the stand in the first son’s criminal trial on Thursday, walking the jury through the ex-couple's use of crack cocaine and events surrounding the disappearance of Hunter’s Cobra Colt .38.

"It was a terrible experience I went through, and I was embarrassed and ashamed. … I regret that period of my life," Hallie Biden told the court on Thursday about her use of crack cocaine. 

Hallie Biden is Beau Biden’s widow, and she began a relationship with Hunter Biden in 2015, following her husband’s death from brain cancer. The pair had an on-and-off romantic relationship until about 2019, with Hunter Biden living in her home in Wilmington as well as the pair sharing a home in Annapolis, Maryland.

She testified that Hunter Biden introduced her to crack cocaine in 2018, noting that she deeply regretted her dalliances with the addictive drug and has since become sober. 

Hallie Biden is a key figure in the trial: She was the one to toss Hunter Biden’s gun in a trash can outside a Wilmington supermarket, which led to police involvement ahead of the indictment last year. She also provided further insight into his addiction to crack cocaine during the year he purchased the gun.

Prosecutors are working to prove that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled "No" when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased the gun from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.

Hunter Biden’s defense team does not deny the first son’s issues with addiction, which are well documented in his memoir, "Beautiful Things," they instead argue that at the time of the gun purchase, Hunter did not consider himself a user of illegal substances. 

Hunter Biden is facing charges of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

He pleaded not guilty in the case.

The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this update.