FBI investigators discovered powered cocaine on the firearm pouch Hunter Biden had used to hold the gun he allegedly purchased in October 2018, Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors said in a Tuesday court filing.
Special counsel David Weiss’ team filed a response motion to Hunter Biden’s selective prosecution claim and described how FBI investigators retrieved the alleged firearm in 2023 and found the alleged cocaine. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Drug Addiction Defense Shattered By New California Indictment)
READ THE MOTION:
“In 2023, FBI investigators pulled sealed evidence from the state police vault to take photographs of the defendant’s firearm. After opening the evidence, FBI investigators observed a white powdery substance on the defendant’s brown leather pouch that had held the defendant’s firearm in October 2018,” the motion reads.
“Based on their training and experience, investigators believed that this substance was likely cocaine and that this evidence would corroborate the messages that investigators had obtained which showed the defendant buying and using drugs in October 2018. An FBI chemist subsequently analyzed the residue and determined that it was cocaine. To be clear, investigators literally found drugs on the pouch where the defendant had kept his gun,” the filing adds.
Hunter Biden battled an addiction to crack cocaine that formed the basis of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” and he has accused his political opponents of weaponizing his addiction against him.
Portions of the memoir are included in the DOJ’s response motion in addition to messages from his Apple iCloud account where he allegedly made references to buying and smoking crack cocaine. In addition, prosecutors reference alleged photos on his phone of crack cocaine. (RELATED: House Republicans To Issue Fresh Subpoenas To Hunter Biden)
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 13: U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden talks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. Hunter Biden defied a subpoena from Congress to testify behind closed doors ahead of a House vote on an impeachment inquiry against his father. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“These episodes of persistent drug usage, documented by the defendant, in the immediate time frame before, during, and after his possession of the gun were evidence that he lied during the background check and unlawfully possessed the gun in October 2018,” the motion states.
His federal tax indictment in California similarly uses selections from the memoir as evidence of his lavish lifestyle during a time period where he allegedly failed to pay over $1 million of taxes.
The response motion to the selective prosecution claim rebukes Hunter Biden’s argument that political pressure influenced the DOJ’s prosecution.
“Yet he produces no evidence to support his allegation that the Executive Branch, led by his father, President Biden, and its Justice Department, led by the Attorney General appointed by his father, authorized prosecution by the U.S. Attorney and Special Counsel of their choosing for an ‘improper political purpose,'” the motion asserts.
Hunter Biden’s legal team argued in December the gun charges should be dismissed for a variety of reasons such as selective prosecution and the pretrial diversion agreement that was part of his failed guilty plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
The guilty plea agreement says Hunter Biden regained his sobriety in May 2019 when he married his current wife. Biden’s conditions of release prohibit him from using drugs or alcohol.
The DOJ filed a separate motion Tuesday arguing the diversion agreement is not legally binding because it did not get the required signature from a Delaware probation officer and never went into effect.
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on three federal gun charges in Delaware stemming from his alleged 2018 purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver while he battled an addiction to illicit drugs.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges at an arraignment in October and faces up to 25 years in prison.