Hunter Biden decries GOP lawmakers, media for 'weaponization of my addiction' amid probes, criminal charges

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, on Thursday denounced congressional Republicans and right-wing media figures for using his well-known history of drug abuse to attack his father and launch "fruitless" investigations.

"Over four years ago, I chose life over the slow strangle-death grip of addiction, which in my case consisted each day of a bottle of vodka and as many hits on a crack pipe as possible," Hunter Biden wrote in an op-ed in USAToday.

Biden, 53, wrote that in a country where tens of millions of people are grappling with substance abuse disorders, his situation is unique only because his father is the president.

"My struggles and my mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained disinformation campaign against him, and an all-out annihilation of my reputation through high-pitched but fruitless congressional investigations," the younger Biden wrote.

He also struck a disgruntled tone as he referenced an ongoing federal criminal case related to his allegedly illegal acquisition of a handgun while being a drug user.

The charges stem from him "possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days five years ago," Biden wrote, adding that they "appear to be the first-ever of their kind brought in the history of Delaware."

Biden pleaded not guilty last month to a three-count indictment in the case in a U.S. district court in Wilmington, Delaware.

The charges followed the collapse of a deal with prosecutors that would have allowed him to avoid prosecution on the gun charges while pleading guilty to misdemeanor counts of failing to pay federal income taxes.

The case has come under intense scrutiny in conservative media outlets and among Republican politicians, who have investigated Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings and prosecutors' treatment of him as they allege a sweeping corruption conspiracy involving the whole Biden family.

House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into the president, a move that has drawn fiery condemnations from Democrats and other critics who accuse them of charging ahead without sufficient evidence.

"I am not a victim," Hunter Biden wrote in Thursday's op-ed. "By any standard, I grew up with privilege and opportunity, and fully accept that the choices and mistakes I made are mine, and I am accountable for them and will continue to be."

"What troubles me is the demonization of addiction, of human frailty, using me as its avatar and the devastating consequences it has for the millions struggling with addiction," he wrote.

Those people are being "bombarded by the denigrating and near-constant coverage of me and my addiction" in outlets such as Fox News and The New York Post, Biden wrote. He cited data showing that Fox has covered him twice as much as it has covered Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a high-profile Republican presidential candidate.

"The weaponization of my addiction by partisan and craven factions represents a real threat to those desperate to get sober but are afraid of what may await them if they do," Hunter Biden wrote.

"The effort of recovery is something that should be celebrated, and I hope that despite my role as the punchline and punching bag for some, others will also make the effort I have made, one day at a time, and get honest with themselves and the people who love and rely upon them," he wrote.