While most of Hunter Biden's trial is focused on his firearm and his alleged crack cocaine habit, another heartbreaking element of the case is slowly coming to light: his crumbling marriage to his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle.
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00:00Hunter Biden faces three charges in his June 2024 gun trial, all of which have to do with
00:05the president's son allegedly possessing a firearm while he was an active drug user.
00:10Hunter has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
00:13While most of the trial is focused on Hunter's firearm and his alleged crack cocaine habit,
00:18another heartbreaking element of the case is slowly coming to light — his crumbling
00:21marriage to his ex-wife, Kathleen Buell.
00:24He was struggling under a massive drug addiction."
00:30Buell took the stand on June 5, sharing harrowing details of her time with Hunter, with whom
00:35she shares three children.
00:36The couple was married from 1993 to 2017, and according to Buell's testimony, she first
00:42discovered her husband had a drug problem in the summer of 2015.
00:45She described finding drug paraphernalia in an outdoor ashtray at their Washington, D.C.
00:50residence on July 3, 2015, saying,
00:53"'He said it was a crack pipe.
00:54He acknowledged smoking crack.'"
00:56"'Crack brought me to a place that I'd never had been to before.'"
01:02This was not the first time Buell had to address her husband's addiction directly.
01:06Over the course of her 25-minute testimony, the author and mother of three described a
01:10daily life plagued with secrets, cover-ups, and preventative measures she felt compelled
01:15to take to keep her husband's health concerns from their family.
01:19The crux of Hunter's gun trial is that the prosecution alleges he was actively addicted
01:23to crack cocaine when he purchased a firearm, checking no on a federal form asking about
01:28his drug use, which is illegal under federal law.
01:32Thus, the prosecution has used witnesses like his ex-wife to describe the defendant's behavior
01:36while he was using drugs.
01:38According to Buell's testimony, the difference in Biden's behavior while using drugs was
01:42drastic.
01:43She told the court,
01:44"'I was worried, scared.
01:45He was not himself.
01:46He was angry, short-tempered, acting in ways he hadn't when he was sober."
01:50While she admitted that he was able to pass as sober to others, she was able to notice
01:54when he was high.
01:55This understandably put a massive strain on both her relationship with Hunter and the
02:00dynamics between the couple and their three children.
02:03Buell testified that she and Hunter split after she found the crack pipe.
02:07Considering their youngest child was still a teenager when Buell discovered it, the concerned
02:10mother started taking preventative measures to ensure her kids weren't exposed to their
02:14father's addiction.
02:16In her testimony, Buell recalled regularly checking their vehicle for drugs or drug paraphernalia
02:20to protect her children from finding it, or accidentally getting in trouble with the law
02:24if they were to get stopped by the police, while unwittingly driving in a car containing
02:29illegal substances.
02:30Buell said she checked the car even after she split from Hunter, and that she found
02:34drugs in the vehicle multiple times.
02:36Buell wrote in her book, If We Break, a memoir of marriage, addiction, and healing,
02:40"...I became adept at hiding the truth, at lying.
02:43To the girls, to the outside world, to my friends and my family, and to myself.
02:48In the end, it shouldn't be surprising that Hunter never realized his addiction's impact
02:51on our family, because I never really told him."
02:53I came to own some of the decisions and choices I made, which was hard."
02:58On June 6th, Hallie Biden, Hunter's ex-girlfriend and sister-in-law, the widow of his brother
03:03Beau, took the stand and told the court Hunter smoked crack within 48 hours of buying the
03:08gun.
03:09She admitted that she, too, had smoked it when she shared a house with him in the summer
03:12of 2018.
03:15If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
03:18Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact
03:22SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP, 4357.