Hunter Biden has been in the public eye for a number of years, because his dad is President Joe Biden. The son of a longtime politician, Hunter, 53, has been the subject of occasional political attacks. His father’s opponents have occasionally come after him when he was battling drug and alcohol addiction, and he has also been the subject of political attacks involving a scandal having to do with his laptop. Most recently, Hunter made headlines when he made a surprise drop-in on a House Committee hearing on January 10, 2024.
Following an investigation into his tax issues, it had been expected that Hunter was going to plead “guilty” to tax charges in order to avoid a gun charge, but in an unexpected turn, he pleaded “not guilty” to federal charges on Wednesday, July 26. A disagreement over the plea deal had arisen over the gun charge, per CBS News. Weeks after the deal fell through, Hunter was indicted on three federal gun charges in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, per CNBC.
Hunter was charged with two counts of lying about illegal drug use when buying a revolver. The third charge was for possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful drug user. For two of the charges, the president’s son can face a maximum sentence of 10 year in prison and be charged $250,000 in fines.
Hunter had been subpoenaed for a private deposition, but he has said he would only testify in a public setting, according to ABC News. To drive his point home, he shocked representatives when he made an unannounced drop in to a House Committee hearing on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. His crashing Capitol Hill led to a sparring match between Democrats and Republicans in the hearing, as he took a seat with his lawyer. Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz tried to motion for a vote to let him testify then. Hunter made his exit after controversial Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was called on.
Aside from politics and his legal troubles, Hunter’s relationships and family life have occasionally been the subject of public interest. He’s been married to his second wife Melissa Cohen since 2019. Besides his relationship with Melissa, he’s also been in a relationship with his late brother Beau’s widow Hallie from 2017 to 2019. He also fathered a daughter with Lunden Alexis Roberts. Find out more about Melissa and her relationship with Hunter here.
How did Hunter meet Melissa?
Hunter and Melissa, 36, had a fast track for their relationship. The pair got married at her Los Angeles home just six days after meeting in May 2019. Hunter admitted that he was instantly smitten with Melissa when they first met in an October 2019 interview with ABC News. “I instantly fell in love with her. And then I’ve fallen in love with her more every day,”
The pair’s wedding was filmed on a cell phone by a friend who attended the intimate ceremony. The couple also got matching tattoos of the word “shalom” in Hebrew. Hunter revealed that the day after the ceremony, he called his dad in an interview with The New Yorker. “I called my dad and said that we just got married. He was on speaker, and he said to her, ‘Thank you for giving my son the courage to love again,’” he said. “He said to me, ‘Honey, I knew that when you found love again that I’d get you back.’”
Melissa was born and raised in South Africa
Melissa was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and lived in an orphanage the first year of her life, and she was adopted by a Jewish couple in South Africa. She attended the Greenside Design Center College of Design, before moving to Los Angeles when she was 21 to attend UCLA for a Horticulture program.
She’s an environmental activist & documentary filmmaker
While she’s now a part of a major political family, Melissa hasn’t shied away from the world of politics in the past. She’s been an environmental activist for many years. She worked for the organization Greenpeace, and she also founded the company Tribal Worlds, which “promotes indigenous conservation,” per The Washington Post. She also worked on a documentary called Tribal Lands, which was later scrapped in 2016, per The List.
They have a son
Melissa gave birth to the couple’s son Beau, 3, in March 2020. Their son was named after Hunter’s late older brother, who died in 2015. Beau is Hunter’s fifth child. He also has three daughters with his ex-wife and a fourth daughter from a 2018 relationship.
Hunter was married once before
Hunter’s first wife was Kathleen Buhle, who he was married to from 1993 until they split up in 2017. Their divorce was finalized in 2019. She opened up about their marriage and Hunter’s battles with addiction in her 2022 memoir If We Break: A Memoir Of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing.