Policy
Well, at least he's humble.
Staying clean is vital because “I have something much bigger even than myself at stake,” the first son, Hunter Biden, said in a rare interview published Monday.
“We are in the middle of a battle for the future of democracy,” the 54-year-old twice-defendant added to Axios while discussing the impact of his health on his father's potential 2024 election battle against former President Donald Trump.
“You have to believe you're worth working, otherwise you'll never be able to get sober. But I often think about the dire consequences of failure here,” the younger Biden told the outlet.
“Maybe this is the ultimate test for a recovering addict – I don't know,” he continued. “I have always been in awe of people who have stayed clean and sober through tragedies and obstacles that few people have ever faced. They are my heroes, my inspiration.”
Hunter used his battle with drug addiction as part of his defense strategy against federal indictments and a House impeachment inquiry against his 81-year-old father, arguing in op-eds and statements to the press that his illness had been used as a weapon by his family. My father's political enemies.
“Deep in my addiction, I was completely irresponsible with my money. But to suggest that is a reason [an] “The impeachment inquiry is absolutely ridiculous,” he told reporters after he evaded a subpoena to appear before the House Oversight Committee in December.
Hunter added that his father was never “financially involved” in his foreign business dealings, which included partners from Ukraine, China, Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan who later paid six- and seven-figure sums to himself and his first brother, James Biden.
The First Son surprised Oversight Committee members the next month by appearing as they weighed a congressional contempt vote against him — but later agreed to sit for a closed-door interview on Wednesday.
The House impeachment inquiry produced bank records and testimony confirming that Hunter and James Biden introduced then-Vice President Joe Biden to several foreign partners before striking the lucrative deals.
In two cases, the oversight board was able to uncover checks that James wrote to his brother around the same time as loan repayment deals totaling $240,000.
The impeachment inquiry focused on any benefits the president may have received due to his son and brother's influence-peddling schemes abroad, while two federal investigations led to tax fraud and gun charges against Hunter in Delaware and Southern California, respectively.
Special Counsel David Weiss initially offered a probation-only plea deal for the first son, which blew up in federal court last July over questions about the scope of immunity granted for other crimes potentially committed while Hunter was in the throes of his addiction.
The first son's descent into cocaine use escalated after his brother, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died in May 2015 of brain cancer, according to his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things.”
Hunter testified in court last July that he had been sober from alcohol and drugs since June 2019, when he met and married his second wife, Melissa Cohen, and a representative for his legal team confirmed to Axios that he had remained so since then.
According to the outlet, Hunter feels a responsibility to his father and family “to make this fight clean and sober, and I feel a responsibility to everyone who is struggling through their recovery to succeed.”
“I don't care if you're 10 years sober, 2 years sober, 2 months sober, 200 years sober — your brain at some level always tells you there's still one answer,” the younger Biden said.
He added: “Accept the state you are in for recovery, which is the feeling of despair that forces you to make a choice.” “Then understand that what is required is that you have to fundamentally change everything.”
