The brief military career of 44-year-old Hunter Biden, Vice President Joseph Biden’s younger son, seems to have ended after one month in the naval reserve. Biden is reported to have tested positive for cocaine use, and was immediately discharged. It was “the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy,” he has said in a statement, “and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge.”

Everybody makes mistakes, of course, and the younger Biden’s humiliation must be profound. But it is worth noting that, while Biden’s summary discharge occurred last February, it did not become public until the Wall Street Journal revealed the story this week. Biden’s statement about “the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy” — for one month! — was issued through his lawyer.