The Family Heritage That Led to Hunter Biden
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 19 July 2023
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
Many Americans have been fascinated by the story of Hunter Biden, who has allegedly leveraged his father’s prominence for his own financial gain. Hunter’s spiral into alcoholism and drug addiction has been chronicled by the press. Recently, federal prosecutors announced a deal in which Hunter would plead guilty to two tax charges and be sentenced to two years of probation, bringing a five-year-long investigation into his business dealings to an end.
In July, 2019, The New Yorker published a groundbreaking investigation titled “The Untold History of the Biden Family.” Its author, Adam Entous, uncovered the rags-to-riches-to-rags story behind the President’s modest upbringing in Scranton. It’s a very different tale from the one that Joe Biden has shared with the public, replete with polo matches, war profiteering, addiction, and scandal. It’s a story that, until recently, even the President and his children may not have known in full. It provides crucial context for the Hunter Biden saga, and a deeper understanding of Joe Biden himself—and the people and events that have shaped the choices he’s made during his decades-long political career.
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| 0:48.4 | You're listening to the political scene. |
| 0:50.7 | I'm Tyler Faggip, and I'm a senior editor at The New Yorker. |
| 0:54.5 | Many Americans have been fascinated by the story of Hunter Biden, the president's second |
| 0:58.7 | son. There's the political element of the story, involving allegations that Hunter |
| 1:03.5 | leveraged his father's prominence for his own financial gain. And then there's the |
| 1:07.7 | personal element, which is focused on Hunter's spiral into alcoholism and drug addiction. |
| 1:13.2 | Recently, the first story came to something of a conclusion. |
| 1:17.2 | Federal prosecutors announced a deal in which Hunter would plead guilty to two tax charges |
| 1:21.5 | and be sentenced to two years of probation, bringing a five-year-long investigation into his business dealings to an end. |
| 1:29.1 | But the second story is still being unraveled. |
| 1:32.5 | Hunter is now sober, but his personal struggles and even his questionable business decisions |
| 1:37.6 | mirror those of other members of the Biden family. |
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