Hunter Biden’s ex-wife testifies, says he was ‘short-tempered’ when abusing drugs

The ghosts of Hunter Biden’s past — a former wife and ex-girlfriend — took the stand on the third day of his criminal gun trial Wednesday.

The charges stem from October 2018, when Biden purchased a Colt Cobra revolver and allegedly lied on federal forms by not disclosing his drug use. This firearm was in his possession for 11 days. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.

The defense is arguing that Biden was abusing alcohol instead of drugs. They pulled out several receipts from liquor stores, including a $48 one dated Oct. 1, and asserted that the federal forms don’t include questions related to alcohol.

Prosecutors say Biden’s infamous laptop, which contains messages, emails, and photos, shows Biden wasn’t sober. In multiple conversations, he said he was meeting a dealer. However, communications about buying or using drugs don’t provide concrete evidence that he actually did those things, his attorneys argued Wednesday morning.

President Joe Biden wasn’t in attendance on Wednesday. He is in France for the rest of the week. But first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, were at the courthouse to support him, as they were on Monday and Tuesday.

Hunter Biden’s former romantic partners painted a harsh picture of his years-long drug problem; while his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, described him as short-tempered, his ex-girlfriend, Zoe Kestan said he was “charming.” The jury also heard from the salesman who sold Biden the firearm.

Ex-wife testifies

Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle testified that she found out about his drug use in 2015 when she found a crack pipe on their house porch. He would try to hide his drugs from family and friends, and acted “angry and short tempered” because of it, she said. “He wasn’t himself,” Buhle said.

She and the president’s son share three daughters and were married from 1993 to 2017. A few years ago, Buhle authored a tell-all, “If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction and Healing.”

Speaking quietly and sticking to short answers, she revealed Biden used her cell phone number after they divorced and used this number to buy drugs. She confessed she would often search the car for drugs or paraphernalia before letting her daughters drive it.

The prosecution questioned her for a quick 15 minutes. During the cross-examination, she mentioned her ex-husband’s three stints in rehab for alcoholism and that they went to therapy together, according to The New York Times .

Prosecutors are trying to argue Buhle found drug paraphernalia in his car around the time he bought the gun in question, but she testified she couldn’t “recall the exact dates.”

Ex-girlfriend testifies

Zoe Kestan, a love interest of Hunter Biden’s, testified next and proved to be chattier than Buhle. She told the jury she met the president’s son at a gentleman’s club on a late night in December 2017.

She called him “charming” and said he smoked a substance through a pipe. She met him again in New York, and again, watched him use drugs “every 20 minutes or so.”

As CNN reported , Kestan said she also witnessed Biden clean out a pipe using “chop sticks and disassembled pens.”

She reiterated she began to care for him as they continued to see each other. Kestan described the way the president’s son would withdraw cash for drug deals, adding he once gave her a temporary code to collect funds at the ATM while he waited at the hotel, according to CBS News .

Prosecutors showed photos taken by Kestan of Biden and crack pipes in their hotel rooms. Another photo captured him wearing a T-shirt that read “addicted.” Although Kestan and Biden talked about getting him help, he didn’t stop abusing drugs, she said. “I thought that was funny because he didn’t smoke weed,” Kestan said.

She testified she didn’t know what Biden was up to during the timeframe when he bought a gun.

Gun store owner

Gordon Cleveland, who sold Hunter Biden the revolver in question, said he told the president’s son to take his time filling out the federal forms required when buying a gun. He watched Hunter Biden check no for the question that required him to answer if he was a drug user, as USA Today reported . Hunter Biden paid in cash and told Cleveland to keep the change, he testified.

He witnessed Biden’s car parked close to an AT&T store through the store’s window. The defense has argued the president’s son wasn’t looking to buy a gun and was in the area to purchase a phone.

But, Biden’s lawyers argued, the salesman at the gun store convinced him.

Cleveland took pride in his salesman abilities. “I could sell whatever you had. It’s just what I did,” he said, per CNN . Cleveland added he encouraged all his customers, including Biden, to buy ammunition alongside a firearm.