Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday that President Biden’s surprise visit to the Delaware home of Hallie Biden last week amounted to “witness tampering” ahead of Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial.
Hallie Biden is the widow of the president’s youngest son, Beau, who died this week in 2015. She was in a brief relationship with Hunter Biden following her husband’s death.
She is also scheduled to testify against Hunter Biden next week in his federal gun trial in Wilmington, Delaware. The president made a surprise visit to her Delaware home late Sunday night.
Mr. Cruz, Texas Republican, called the timing “rather astonishing” coming just days before the start of Hunter Biden’s trial on Monday.
“Joe Biden decided a little witness tampering is a good way to start that trial,” he said on his “The Verdict” podcast.
“I don’t know the frequency with which Joe Biden visits other members of the family and many presidents do that. What they don’t do with great frequency is do it right before you do it when you’re meeting with a key witness who is about to testify in the trial against your son,” he said. “That is a dramatically different context. And it raises obvious questions, questions that the media seems completely uninterested in asking and that I expect the Biden Department of Justice is completely uninterested in asking.”
Mr. Cruz said the president’s visit is evidence that the trial is designed to “insulate and protect” him.
The White House on Tuesday insisted the visit was to mark the anniversary of Beau Biden’s passing.
“This was not about her testimony. This was about the ninth anniversary of the passing of his son,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to three federal charges of purchasing a gun while using illegal narcotics, including allegations of falsely submitting a form saying he was not using drugs when he bought a revolver in 2018.
Prosecutors say Hunter Biden illegally possessed the weapon, which Hallie Biden disposed of in a public dumpster in 2018.
Hallie Biden has been described as “witness 3” in court documents and identified as being “in a romantic relationship with the defendant in October 2018” and he “stayed at her home in the fall of 2018” — which coincides with the time that Hunter Biden was living with Hallie Biden.
In addition to Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan will also testify. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
In a separate case, Hunter Biden faces federal tax charges. That case is set to go to trial on June 20 in California. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.