Hallie Biden reveals troubling details about her relationship with Hunter Biden, and why she threw away his gun

Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law, Hallie Biden, took the stand on the fourth day of his gun trial. Not only was Hallie romantically involved with Hunter, her deceased husband’s brother, but she saw his addiction up close, and she slipped into drug use herself, she testified Thursday in a Delaware court.

She also found and threw away the gun central to this case, she testified.

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

Hunter Biden arrived at the courtroom alongside his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. First lady Jill Biden attended the proceedings Monday through Wednesday, but on Thursday she was in France with President Joe Biden for the anniversary of D-Day. The president, in a recent conversation with ABC News, said the White House will not pardon Hunter Biden if he is convicted. The president also said he will accept the outcome of the trial.

Valerie Biden, Hunter’s aunt, was spotted in the courtroom Thursday right before Hallie Biden took the stand.

This witness detailed her troubled relationship with Hunter and her efforts to protect him.

Hallie Biden’s testimony

Hallie Biden is Beau Biden’s widowed wife. After Beau’s death in 2015, Hallie testified she had a relationship with his brother, Hunter Biden, which grew “gradually.” They dated in 2015 and 2016, and during this time, Hallie said she found Hunter’s crack pipe and witnessed him with copious amounts of drugs, according to CNN.

She said Hunter’s behavior would change when he was using drugs, describing him as “agitated, (and) high strung,” but “well functioning.” Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle had earlier made similar statements in the trial about his temperament when on drugs.

Between 2017 and 2018, Hallie Biden’s concerns for Hunter grew and she confronted him about his drug use. “This can’t go on, we can’t do this,” she recalled telling him, and the president’s son asked her to leave him alone. Hallie Biden said that in 2018, Hunter Biden introduced her to crack and she was abusing it. She testified it was a “terrible experience” and added that she was “embarrassed” and “ashamed,” as NBC News reported .

In August that year, she said she quit using drugs. Then, on Oct. 23, 2018, Hallie said she was cleaning out Hunter’s car when she found drugs and a gun. She said she wasn’t sure if the gun the prosecutors had was the same one she stumbled across six years ago.

At the time, she said she “panicked and wanted to get rid of” the gun and the bullets and feared Hunter would hurt himself or someone else. According to her testimony, she found a small pouch that Hunter Biden kept drugs in, and put the gun in there. Hallie Biden said she then went to a store and threw the firearm in a trash can. As CNN reported, she testified she went back to the store looking for the revolver, before eventually filing a police report.

Hallie said Hunter Biden became angry with her after she told him what she had done. The prosecution showed many heated text messages between the two from that day.

During the cross-examination, Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell grilled Hallie Biden on the details from the October 2018 incident. He pulled out phone records showing Hunter and Hallie had multiple conversations, but Hallie Biden couldn’t recall any details, according to The Associated Press .

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or chatting online at 988lifeline.org .