(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden visited the home of Hallie Biden days before she is due to testify in his first son Hunter Biden’s gun trial, raising eyebrows about the purpose of his visit.
The White House says the visit was about the ninth anniversary of the death of Beau Biden, the president’s first son to whom Hallie was married. However, the president’s brief visit with Hallie also comes before she is expected to testify as a witness in Hunter Biden’s gun crime trial next month.
Hallie dated Hunter at the time of his alleged gun crimes and is one of a dozen expected witnesses, according to Fox News.
Democratic strategist Lynda Tran says that while she believes Biden was there to “share grief,” the optics of the visit were not good.
NewsNation’s “The Hill” panel discussed what the visit means for Hunter Biden’s upcoming trial. He is charged with making false statements on a federal form when purchasing a firearm in 2018.
“The defense is going to raise it to make sure that in their cross-examination of Hallie, that the president, that conversation was all about grief,” political contributor A. Scott Bolden said on “The Hill.”
“If this comes up, then they’ll (the prosecution) raise it with her. That is, was he trying to unduly influence a government witness merely by his conversation with her?”
Hunter Biden’s trial is set to begin June 3 and could last up to two weeks as his father’s reelection campaign unfolds.