Hunter Biden acknowledged that money from his lucrative foreign business positions, including his seat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, helped finance his crack cocaine addiction during a years-long period of heavy drug use.
The former president’s son made the admission during an appearance on the “Dopey” podcast while discussing how he continued paying for drugs, prostitutes and expensive accommodations despite the severity of his addiction. The remarks were reported by the New York Post on Sunday.
“I never went broke,” Hunter said while recounting a roughly two-month period he spent at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, California, where he said he intended to “go out with a bang.”
Podcast host Dave Manheim asked Hunter how he managed to find enough money to continue paying for cocaine, prostitutes and private bungalows at the luxury hotel.
Hunter pointed directly to income that continued flowing from his business positions.
“Well, I still had the residual. Like for instance, I still was on the board of Burisma,” he explained.
Hunter reportedly earned roughly $50,000 per month while serving on Burisma’s board of directors between 2014 and 2019.
The New York Post reported that his compensation reached as much as $1 million annually during portions of his tenure with the Ukrainian energy company.
Hunter’s relationship with Burisma became the subject of intense political scrutiny during and after his father Joe Biden’s presidency.
Congressional Republicans investigated Hunter’s foreign business relationships as part of a broader inquiry into whether members of the Biden family improperly profited from Joe Biden’s political influence.
Hunter joined Burisma’s board in April 2014 while his father was serving as vice president in the Obama administration.
Joe Biden was involved in US policy toward Ukraine during the same period, while Hunter’s abandoned laptop later revealed that the elder Biden attended a Washington, D.C., dinner with a Burisma executive in 2015, according to the Post.
Hunter pushed back against longstanding criticism that he lacked the qualifications necessary to serve on Burisma’s board.
During the podcast interview, he argued that his extensive résumé and previous board positions made him qualified for the role.
“What people don’t understand about Burisma is that I went on the board of Burisma because I had been on the board of about 14 other major national and international organizations,” Hunter said.
He specifically pointed to his work with the World Food Program USA, Amtrak, the Center for National Policy, Georgetown University and law firm Boies Schiller as evidence of his professional experience.
Hunter also rejected the characterization of his foreign business dealings as criminal, telling listeners he was not “running some kind of international crime syndicate.”
The former president’s son then described the workload associated with his Burisma position, saying he was required to attend only a handful of meetings each year.
“I took that when my dad was vice president, and then for three years after I was still on the board, and the requirement of the board would be that I would show up for four meetings a year,” Hunter said.
He went further while discussing how his addiction affected his ability to perform those duties.
“Even when I was a crack addict and out of my mind, I could show up for four meetings a year,” Hunter said.
The comments provide a direct account from Hunter about how he maintained his income while struggling with addiction, an issue he has discussed extensively in interviews and his memoir, per the New York Post.
His finances and foreign business relationships have also played a significant role in years of investigations and political battles surrounding the Biden family.
Republicans in Congress previously examined bank records, business communications and testimony from Hunter’s former associates while investigating allegations of influence peddling.
Hunter, however, has consistently defended his professional qualifications and disputed accusations that his business career amounted to a criminal operation.
His latest comments focused largely on the intersection between that career and one of the darkest periods of his personal life.
Despite describing himself as being “out of my mind” during his crack addiction, Hunter maintained that he remained capable of fulfilling the limited requirements associated with his Burisma board position.
Hunter also agreed with Manheim’s observation that people can underestimate individuals suffering from addiction, arguing that drug users “can do a lot of cool stuff.”
