Store Clerk Who Sold Hunter Biden Gun Says He Tried to Leave $13 Tip

Gordon Cleveland remembers the day Hunter Biden walked into his gun store on Oct. 12, 2018 very clearly.

The President’s son wanted to buy a gun but didn’t have a specific model in mind.

After showing him a few options, the gun store clerk talked with Hunter about accessories such as a speedloader, practice ammunition and hollow-point ammunition.

“He went with the hollow-point,” Cleveland testified on Wednesday during Biden’s federal gun trial in Delaware.

Biden paid $900 for a Cold Cobra .38 revolver and told Cleveland to keep the $13 as a tip.

Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s defense attorney, then asked Cleveland if he was familiar with the phrase “whale hunter.”

“That’s what they called me because I sold high-end guns to customers,” Cleveland explained. “I’m a salesman. That’s just what I did.”

Cleveland didn’t have a profit motive to upsell customers on more expensive merchandise because he was paid a flat salary and didn’t make commission.

In a humorous moment that got a chuckle from the courtroom, Cleveland said he always recommended ammo to go with firearm purchases, otherwise, “What are you going to do with it? Throw it at somebody?”

Cleveland, adhering to store policy, refused Biden’s tip and placed the change in an envelope by the register.

Biden, 54, was accompanied by his wife Melissa Cohen-Biden, while the First Lady Jill Biden was also in court in Wilmington on Wednesday for the third day of his trial for felony charges related to the 2018 gun purchase.

Prosecutors argue that he lied on federal documents about his drug use, which would have barred him from legally obtaining a firearm. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison. The trial, expected to last one to two weeks, delves deeply into whether Biden’s drug use influenced his ability to lawfully purchase the firearm.

Cleveland said he watched as Biden entered his name, address and other personal information on the gun purchase form.

He also claims he was standing next to Hunter when he began to answer a series of questions on the form with “yes or no” boxes to check. Biden checked a box saying he was buying the gun for himself. Another question asked “are you an unlawful user of or addicted to” marijuana, stimulants, narcotics or any other controlled substance.

“He wrote ‘no’,” said Cleveland, who added that Biden did not ask any questions or express any confusion about answering the question.

First Lady returns for testimony

First Lady Jill Biden reentered the courtroom when testimony resumed after lunch. She left earlier in the morning before Hunter’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle testified.

Buhle talked about how she never saw Hunter using drugs, she would consistently search his cars for drug paraphernalia so that their daughters wouldn’t get caught with it when they borrowed the cars.

Buhle told the court that she found drugs multiple times in 2018, while she also made other discoveries over the course of their relationship.

“I found a crack pipe… on an ashtray on the side porch of our home,” she said, speaking of an incident in 2015.

Direct examination of Buhle by defense attorney Abbe Lowell lasted around 15 minutes, when she admitted she never saw the defendant use drugs.

Buhle, 55, and Hunter Biden, 54, married in 1993. The couple, who have three children—Naomi, 30, Maisy, 23, and Finnegan, 23—divorced in 2016.

Buhle claimed in her 2022 memoir “If We Break” Hunter Biden’s infidelity and drug use led to the demise of their marriage. She also sued him in 2019, claiming he has not paid her alimony legal fees, interest, and other debts owed to her since their split.

Carried crack pipes in sunglasses cases

When testimony resumed after lunch, the jurors heard the continuation of testimony from Hunter’s former girlfriend, Zoe Kestan.

Kestan provided a vivid recounting of her 2018 week-long getaways with Hunter, during which he frequently smoked crack and drank alcohol. She described Biden’s habit of carrying his crack pipes in sunglasses cases, a toolbox, and leather totes, and admitted to assisting him in purchasing drugs and paraphernalia.

The morning testimony was less eventful, especially for one juror briefly falling asleep during FBI agent Erika Jensen’s testimony. Jensen’s cross-examination, which began the previous day, involved scrutinizing texts between Hunter and Hallie Biden, his deceased brother Beau’s widow, as well as reviewing bank statements. The juror dozed off as Jensen discussed these documents, but was jolted awake when more gripping testimonies about Hunter’s drug use were presented.

Court adjourned shortly before 5 p.m. for the day with testimony expected to resume Thursday morning.

After the jurors were dismissed, prosecutor Derek Hines told the judge he has six more witnesses after Cleveland. He said it is possible the prosecution could rest its case Thursday.