A forensic chemist on Friday testified that white powder found in a brown leather pouch that contained Hunter Biden’s allegedly illegally obtained gun tested positive for drugs.
“Cocaine was identified within the residual white powder that I sampled,” chemist James Brewer told jurors in Delaware federal court.
He added that the “minimal amount of white power” was found in and on the pouch, and that the tests were done last year—five years after prosecutors say Biden lied on a federal form to buy a $5,000 gun when he was asked whether he suffered from drug addiction.
“You can’t date when the residue got there, or who put it there?” defense lawyer David Kolansky asked during cross-examination.
“I cannot,” Brewer said, also confirming he did not initially analyze the pouch and did not test for fingerprints.
Biden has pleaded not guilty to three counts of owning a firearm while using narcotics. Defense attorneys insist that the president’s son may not have knowingly lied on his form because, at the time, he was in a “deep state of denial” about his drug use.
On Thursday, Biden’s sister-in-law and former paramour testified that she put the gun inside his leather pouch after finding it in his truck. Hallie Biden testified that she then put the pouch in a shopping bag and threw it away at a grocery store near her house.
“I didn’t want him to hurt himself or my kids to find it and hurt themselves. I was afraid to, kind of, touch it,” Hallie said. “I was just so flustered from the whole thing. I realize it was a stupid idea now, but I was just panicking.”
When Biden found out she threw away the gun, he initially told her to look for it before suggesting she file a police report since the firearm was under his name. She testified that she eventually called the police because she could not find it.
Millard Greer, a police officer who was tasked with finding the gun, testified that security footage showed an old man near the trash can where Hallie had discarded the weapon. Witnesses nearby later told him that the man had a habit of rummaging through garbage for recyclables and Greer said he eventually found the man poking around a strip mall days later.
The man, Edward Banner, confirmed that he found a “thirty-eight special” in the trash and took it home. On the stand, Banner explained to jurors he had a hobby of finding recyclables and driving them to New York for profit.
Greer said he went to Banner’s house with him but there was some difficulty getting inside, thanks to a lost set of keys and a sleeping wife. When they finally got in, Banner ran upstairs to give Greer a box of rolled-up socks.
“‘I think this is what you’re looking for,’” Greer said Banner explained. “And he pulls out a sock that has a gun in it.”
This post was originally published on Daily Beast
