WILMINGTON, Del. —The gun store worker who sold Hunter Biden a .38-caliber revolver nearly six years ago testified Thursday that the first son didn’t appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time hebought the weapon.
Gordon Cleveland, on the standfor a second dayat the Biden son’s federal weapons trial, said that when Hunter, now 54, purchased the Colt Cobra gun on Oct. 12, 2018, fromStarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington, he seemed sober.
11
11
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell had asked Cleveland — who worked part-time at the shop until 2021 and is now a trash truck driver — if he ever watched for tell-tale signs that someone was under the influence when they were buying a firearm.
“Do you check if someone is glassy-eyed or smells of alcohol or smells of marijuana? Lowell asked.
“Yes,” Cleveland replied.
“Did Mr. Biden exhibit any of those things?“ Lowell inquired.
“Not at all,” Cleveland said. “You’re not supposed to be purchasing firearms if you’re on drugs, even if you have a medical marijuana card.”
Through the testimony of President Biden’s son’s three exes, prosecutors have been seeking to establish that Hunter was able to pass himself off as sober — when he was actually high on crack cocaine.
11
11
11
The younger Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle testified Wednesday that Hunter was able to work and interact with friends and family without others detecting that he was high,even though Buhle said shecould tell.
Hunter’s ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan remarked howit was “crazy his demeanor doesn’t seem to be changing,” when he used crack.
And later Thursday,during the testimony of star witness Hallie Biden, Hunter’s sister-in-law-turned lover, she said that at times Hunter was “agitated [and] high-strung” while on the drug while other times he was “functioning well.”
On Wednesday, Lowell had suggested that Cleveland pushed his client into buying the weapon — and insinuated that the form on which Hunter claimed not to have a drug problem had been tampered with after the fact.
Despite withering questioning from Lowell, Cleveland managed to hold his own by deploying sharp and precise recollectionsof the events in question.
11
11
“No, you got the sequence mixed up,”the witnesspushed back on Lowell at one point. He also drew rare laughs from the courtroom with some of his quips during his back-and-forth with the defense.
Cleveland, who’d received the nickname “whale hunter” from his fellow gun store workers for his sales abilities, said he wasn’t trying to upsell customers, but rather didn’t want them to return unhappy with their purchases — and he noted he didn’t make commission.
He also dispelled implications the gun application had been tampered with, noting that he and another employee helped Hunter to fill out the form — and adding that certain parts of the form were meant to only be filled out by workers.
11
Later Thursday, the jury heard from two Delaware State Police officers about their involvement in the probe of Hunter’s missing gun after Hallie chucked it in a garbage can behind a local grocery store.
Former DSP Lt. Millard Greer recounted his conversation with Edward Banner, the 80-year-old retiree who stumbled upon Hunter’s gun while searching for recyclables in the trash outside of Janssen’s Market.
When Greer asked Banner if he’d found something that someone put in the trash that they shouldn’t have, the elderly man said he found “a 38 special.”
11
The pair then went to Banner’s home and retrieved the gun before Greer called Hunter asking if he wanted to press charges. Hunter declined.
Banner briefly took the stand as Thursday’s last witness, but struggled to hear the lawyers’ questions, forcing them to stand right next to him to make their inquiries heard.
The jury was also shown surveillance video of Banner finding the revolver, concealed in a pouch in the garbage bin.
11
When asked to confirm who wasin the video, Banner responded, “That sure looks like me,” and added that “apparently, I found a .38, a pistol.”
“This may sound like an unusual question,” asked prosecutor Derek Hines, “but has anyone in your household used cocaine?”
“Not that I know of,” Banner responded.
Hines likely asked thequestion to get ahead of any suggestion by the defense that cocaine residue found on the pouch the gun was in came from Banner’s home rather than Hunter Biden.
Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Friday after calling two additional witnesses, forensic chemistDr. Jason Brewer and Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Joshua Romig.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to three criminal chargesrelated tohis allegedly illegal purchase of a revolver while addicted to crack cocaine.
