Hunter Biden: The struggles and scandals of the US president’s son

Taking the stand at his Delaware trial, Hallie Biden testified that the president’s son had introduced her to crack cocaine and bought drugs in her presence. She also said his frequent use left him “agitated” and “high-strung”.

Two months after a stint in rehab in 2018, Hunter Biden purchased a handgun – what his defence team maintains was an impulse buy, under pressure from a pushy gun store owner.

Prosecutors say he lied on the firearm application form by claiming that he was not using drugs at the time. Hunter Biden’s attorneys have argued he did not consider himself an addict and had been clean at that time.

Hallie Biden, who told the court she had confronted Hunter Biden over his drug use, found the weapon and ammunition as she again cleared “remnants of crack cocaine and [drug] paraphernalia” from his vehicle.

She described how, in a moment of panic, she stuffed the gun in a shopping bag and tossed it in a garbage bin, 11 days after the firearm was purchased.

“I didn’t want him to hurt himself or the kids to find it and hurt themselves” she said of her actions.

According to the New York Times, Hunter had ominously told a family friend at the time: “I know you all think the wrong brother died.”

Retrieving the discarded gun would ultimately involve local police, the FBI and an elderly man who had been fishing in the trash for aluminium and plastic.

Reports of an “amicable” split between Hallie and Hunter surfaced in 2019, less than a week after his father launched his third bid for president.

Mere weeks later, Hunter wed South African filmmaker Melissa Cohen after a whirlwind six-day romance. They have one son.