A legal analyst has warned that the defense team of Hunter Biden faces a new "devastating" blow after the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that cocaine residue was found on the gun pouch of the president's son.
Hunter Biden is currently facing three federal gun charges, all of which he has pleaded not guilty to. The charges relate to his lying about his drug use on a federal form to purchase a handgun in October 2018. He kept the gun for 11 days.
Joe Biden's son admitted to having struggled with a crack cocaine addiction during this period in 2018, according to the DOJ. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told CNN's Erin Burnett in September, "At the time that he purchased this gun, I don't think there's evidence that that's when he was suffering."
Lowell has tried to throw out the indictment, arguing that the case is politically motivated. He said in a statement following Hunter Biden's not-guilty plea, "President Trump and his MAGA allies" have forced "the Justice Department to ignore the law and deviate from its policies in cases like this one."
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the DOJ argued against a judge dropping the charges against Hunter Biden and revealed that an FBI chemist determined last year that a white powdery substance found on a pouch that he used to hold his handgun was cocaine.
Jonathan Turley, an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School, reacted to the DOJ's revelation in an article on his website posted on Thursday. He wrote, "The disclosure is devastating for a defense that Lowell just rolled out late last year."
Turley pointed to Hunter Biden's memoir, titled, Beautiful Things, which was published in April 2021, where he describes his decades-long addiction to drugs and alcohol in detail and how he came out of it a sober man.
"The image of a clean, redemptive soul is strikingly out of sync with a gun pouch that was reportedly covered in coke," Turley wrote. "What is clear is that the sobriety defense now seems as risky as it is implausible."
Turley told Newsweek via email on Thursday, "Ironically, Lowell is following the same strategy of Donald Trump in dismissing the prosecutions as politically motivated. However, as the Trump cases demonstrate, such arguments play better outside than inside of a courtroom. It will do little for Hunter in front of a judge.
"The more significant impact is further undermining Lowell's earlier suggestion that Hunter had emerged from his drug use when he signed the form and thus did so truthfully."
Newsweek reached out to Lowell via email for comment.
Hunter Biden is also facing tax charges from the DOJ in a case that alleges that the president's son evaded at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019. The nine-count indictment includes three felonies and six misdemeanors including failure to file and pay taxes, false tax return, and evasion of assessment. Last week, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
