It is said that little children bring little problems, and big children bring big problems. In the case of Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, this holds entirely true. Could Hunter‘s troubles affect his father‘s position in the upcoming presidential race?
Lawyer and businessman Hunter Biden, the son of the current head of the United States, was recently convicted for the unlawful purchase and possession of a firearm. What exactly happened? In June this year, Hunter was found guilty by a court in Delaware for unlawfully purchasing and possessing a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018. In the U.S., anyone purchasing a firearm must fill out a form that includes a series of background questions, one of which is whether the buyer is addicted to drugs. Hunter lied on the form by stating he was not. However, he himself mentions in his biography that he only overcame his drug addiction in 2019. The whole matter might not have escalated if it hadn’t been for Hunter’s then-girlfriend Hallie, the widow of Hunter’s brother Beau, who died in 2015. Hallie knew Hunter was having a tough time due to issues with his ex-wife Kathleen, so when she found the gun at his home, she got scared and decided to get rid of it. She took the gun and threw it into a trash can behind a local grocery store. When she later realized what she had done and returned for the revolver, it was gone. She asked the store staff, who promptly called the police. The police eventually found the Colt in the home of a man who regularly scavenged the store’s trash cans. This happened eleven days after Hunter bought the gun, leading to his indictment and eventual conviction.
Unknown cause
During the trial, Hunter tried to convince the jury that he was no longer using drugs at the time he bought the gun, but ultimately failed. Much is known about his wild life and drug escapades, especially due to the tabloids, which often thrived on scandals associated with his name. It is known that he had significant issues with alcohol as a young man. He was expelled from the U.S. Army Reserves in February 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. His wife, partners, and even children knew about his fondness for crack, a form of cocaine smoked through a special pipe. His love affairs are also public knowledge. What has never been properly explained is the reason why Hunter is the way he is. He comes from a well-off family with healthy relationships where no one else had addiction issues. His father Joe doesn’t even drink. However, the media sometimes suggests that Hunter’s emotional instability and inclination towards substance abuse might be linked to a traumatic childhood event. On December 18, 1972, in Hockessin, Delaware, Neilia Biden was driving with her three children – three- year-old Beau, two-year-old Hunter, and one-year-old Naomi – when she momentarily lost attention and drove into the path of an oncoming truck. Neilia and Naomi died on the way to the hospital, while Beau and Hunter sustained serious injuries but ultimately survived. It was a severe blow to the whole family, but for the surviving boys, it was an extraordinarily deep trauma. This might explain why Beau and Hunter were always very close. It is no coincidence that Hunter’s drug problems worsened significantly after Beau died from a brain tumor in 2015.
Hunter Biden with his father, the president of the USA.
25 years? Not likely
In court, it was mentioned that Hunter Biden overcame his drug addiction in 2019, largely thanks to his current wife, South African filmmaker Melissa Cohen, whom he married just six days after they met. In 2020, the couple had a son named Beau (after Hunter’s beloved brother), which is certainly another strong reason to turn one’s life around. Hunter also had the full support of his children, his father Joe, and his stepmother Jill, with whom he has had a very good relationship since childhood. Everyone naturally awaited the president’s reaction to the verdict. Joe Biden stated that he fully respects the court’s decision and that if he becomes president again, he will neither pardon his son nor commute his sentence. Although theoretically, the sentence could be up to 25 years, as reported by many newspapers in the U.S. and elsewhere, the reality will be quite different. In this specific case, several mitigating factors play a significant role, primarily that no crime was committed with the firearm in question and that Hunter has a clean criminal record. In similar cases, U.S. courts typically impose a prison sentence of 15 months. However, when the court will announce the sentence is still unknown. Many commentators believe it is quite likely that this will not happen before November 5, when the presidential election is scheduled, in which the Democrat Biden is expected to run against the Republican Trump. Donald Trump and his team have seized Hunter’s case as a means to bolster their campaign, which kicked off with a highly scrutinized televised debate between the two potential candidates on June 27. Trump, during his appearance, made a jab at Biden by mentioning Hunter’s recent conviction, mainly to avoid responding to a moderator’s remark that he himself was recently convicted of falsifying financial statements.
Confusion on live TV
Does Hunter Biden’s case have the potential to influence the race, which will undoubtedly be tense and full of personal attacks? Polls conducted in the U.S. shortly after the verdict showed that people generally appreciate Joe Biden’s approach to the matter, meaning that as a father, he gave his son maximum support, but as the president of the U.S., he also showed that everyone must be treated equally in matters of guilt and punishment. It seems, therefore, that Hunter’s problems will not particularly harm Joe Biden in the race for the U.S. presidency. The main danger lies elsewhere – it concerns Joe Biden himself, specifically his age and behavior. In the aforementioned televised debate, he appeared tired, uncertain, and quite unconvincing. Despite ex-President Donald Trump, who was not overly aggressive this time around, telling many lies and half-truths, Joe Biden failed to adequately respond and correct them. He simply lacked vigor, spirit, and rhetorical flexibility. Although, unlike Trump, his answers to the moderators’ questions were mostly more factual and correct. Among the viewers, especially in the highest circles of the Democratic Party, nervousness ensued during the debate that oscillated between unpleasant surprise and utter dismay at how poorly President Biden performed. There were even doubts about whether the 81-year-old Joe Biden should be officially declared as the presidential candidate at the summer Democratic Party convention or if the Democrats should quickly choose someone else – someone younger, more agile, and more aggressive. U.S. presidential elections are not won by the votes of staunch supporters of the Republican or Democratic Party but by the votes of people who often do not care much about politics and who pay much more attention to the first impression and the show that the candidate can put on. Unfortunately, the first presidential debate showed that the lying, self-centered manipulator Trump played his role significantly better.
ANOTHER COURT CASE ON THE HORIZON
Unfortunately, the purchase and possession of a firearm during his period of drug addiction is not the only legal problem Hunter Biden is currently dealing with. He was recently charged in California with three felonies and six misdemeanors that allegedly occurred between 2016 and 2019, including failing to file a tax return, tax fraud, filing a false tax return, or evading tax assessment. Although Hunter paid all the arrears in 2021, he is facing up to 17 years in prison.
CV BOX
Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970, in Wilmington, Delaware) is the second son of the current U.S. President Joe Biden.
He is a lawyer and businessman, founding partner of the investment and advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners.
From 2013 to 2020, he was a board member of the large Chinese investment fund BHR Partners, and from 2014 to 2019, he was a board member of the Ukrainian company Burisma Holdings, which extracts and sells natural gas. Numerous controversies and speculations have arisen around these business activities, but no evidence of any wrongdoing or illegal conduct has been found.
He is married for the second time; his wife is the South African filmmaker Melissa Cohen, who gave birth to a son named Beau in 2020. From his first marriage and other relationships, he has four other children - daughters Finnegan, Naomi, Maisy, and Navy Joan.
