Vice President Joe Biden’s son was discharged from the Navy Reserve this year because he tested positive for cocaine, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Hunter Biden didn’t serve a full year in the military before failing his drug test, the Journal found.
Hunter decided to pursue military service at age 43, hoping to become a public-affairs officer in the Navy Reserve.
Joe Biden joked about this decision in January 2013 at the American Legion’s Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball.
“We have a lot of bad judgment in my family,” the vice president said. “My son, who is over 40, just joined the United States Navy. He’s about to be sworn in as an officer, Hunter Biden.”
Because of Hunter’s age he needed a waiver to join the Navy and ended up having to get a second waiver because of a drug-related incident in his younger years. Military officials told WSJ that such drug waivers aren’t uncommon.
He was commissioned as an ensign on May 7, 2013, and assigned to Navy Public Affairs Support Element East in Norfolk, Va., a reserve unit. In June 2013, he was given a drug test, which tested positive for cocaine. He was formally discharged in February of this year.
Hunter said in a statement that it was “the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy, and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge. I respect the Navy’s decision. With the love and support of my family, I’m moving forward.”
The vice president declined to comment on the situation.
Now Hunter is is a managing partner at Rosemont Seneca Partners, an investment company. He also serves as chairman of World Food Program USA and he is an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University.
