Takeaways from the memoir of Lunden Roberts, mother of Hunter Biden’s child in Arkansas
(CNN) — The Arkansas mother of one of Hunter Biden’s children describes in a new memoir the agonizing journey of raising their daughter as a single mother in Arkansas, to a bitter courtroom paternity fight, to a tearful family reconciliation that included a public acknowledgment from President Joe Biden that the child was his granddaughter.
Lunden Roberts, with co-authors Josh Manning and Erin Brownback, shared her side of the much-discussed story in, “Out of the Shadows,” which was published Tuesday. The 312-page book chronicles how she met Hunter Biden in Washington, DC, and quickly fell in love with “the most charming human I’ve ever met,” despite his daily battle against addiction “demons.”
Roberts wrote that she identifies as “an old-fashioned Arkansas Democrat” and proudly voted for Joe Biden in 2020 – despite hiring a “MAGA-loving attorney” who was a “trustworthy pit bull” and his wife, who bitterly fought Hunter Biden in court.
The memoir also delves into some episodes that could factor into Hunter Biden’s tax evasion trial that’s set for next month, where Roberts has been subpoenaed to testify.
CNN has reached out to Hunter Biden’s lawyers and the White House for comment.
Here’s what to know from Roberts’ intensely personal memoir.
Witnessing addiction up close
After college, Roberts moved to DC for further studies. But she was “dumb and naïve,” living a “wild” and “impulsive” life, which led her to a house party where she met Biden, who is two decades her senior.
She stumbled upon him in a back room, in his boxers, holding a crack pipe. She wrote, “In the first five minutes he has learned my entire life story, and the only thing I know about him is that he is suffering. I can tell he’s brilliant, and he has a demon on his back.”
They quickly became romantically involved around early 2017. Roberts adored his “giving heart” and generosity, such as paying for a homeless man and his son to stay in a luxury hotel on his dime. But she also got enmeshed in Biden’s “toxic” lifestyle – meeting his drug dealers, constant partying with friends and watching him drink “a gallon or more” of Tito’s vodka almost every day.
“His addiction leaves no room for peace or even basic rest. It has no mercy,” Roberts wrote, later describing Biden as “a man in extreme pain, tormented by guilt, self-medicating his demons, needing approval, but thought of as the family’s black sheep.”
Bitter paternity fight and child-support case
After Roberts got pregnant in late 2017, Biden missed their first heartbeat ultrasound, and then slept with one of her best friends, she said. So, she moved home to Batesville, Arkansas.
In the book, Roberts revealed that she had planned to kill herself after giving birth, concluding that “everyone will benefit from me being gone, including Navy,” her daughter. She penned suicide notes for her family but had a change-of-heart after Navy arrived.
She filed a paternity suit after Biden claimed he didn’t recall their sexual encounter. (A DNA test that was later conducted as part of the case confirmed he was the father.)
“I don’t want this to be a scandal. I never did,” Roberts wrote, explaining why she decided to sue Hunter Biden in spring 2019. “I’m rooting for Joe in this next election, and I’m not part of a conspiracy trying to bring down the Biden dynasty. It would just be nice if Hunter would tell the truth and give my daughter the father she deserves.”
Roberts hired attorneys Clint and Jennifer Lancaster, who are strong supporters of former President Donald Trump. They played hardball and, in 2020, secured monthly child support of $20,000. But two years later, with Biden running low on cash while under federal criminal investigation, he reopened the case in a bid to reduce the payments.
The estranged pair faced off in a Batesville court in 2023. The Lancasters invoked Biden’s infamous laptop and brought a fiery right-wing activist as an “expert witness.”
During Biden’s deposition a month later, Roberts agreed to talk one-on-one for the first time in years. She claimed Biden apologized and spoke of “guilt and remorse,” as Roberts shared photos of Navy. They were “laughing and crying” together, she wrote.
They agreed that Biden would only need to pay $5,000 each month going forward, a figure not previously disclosed. And Biden pledged to start building a relationship with Navy. Roberts wrote that this was the linchpin, for their daughter, so “she gets a dad.”
How Biden became part of his daughter’s life
The book highlights painful episodes in Navy’s young life where she, according to her mother, grappled with Biden’s absence and her estranged role in the Biden family.
From afar, Roberts taught Navy about her famous relatives in DC, writing, “She knows the man on the TV we are cheering for to win is her other grandpa,” referring to Joe Biden.
Her parents are Republicans, and Trump won more than 77% of the vote in her home county in Arkansas in 2020. But Roberts wrote, “I’m in no way a fan of Donald Trump.”
Roberts got a children’s book that first lady Jill Biden wrote and read it to Navy. But she was brought to tears upon seeing the dedication on the first page “to my grandchildren,” which named everyone except Navy. Roberts found this to be “classless,” and wrote that she believed Jill Biden “snubbed a small innocent child, and a family member.”
After the child-support case was settled, Joe Biden publicly acknowledged Navy for the first time, saying, among other things, “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.” And Hunter Biden soon delivered on his promise to foster ties with Navy: Their first video call was in fall 2023, and they now speak every week.
Despite Biden’s legal cases, Roberts said he always found time for the Zoom calls with Navy, who turns six this month. They video-chatted during the solar eclipse in April, when Batesville was in the path of totality. At the end of the book, Roberts praised Biden’s willingness to “go above and beyond for Navy to know she is loved by her father.”
Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know needs help, call the national suicide hotline: 1-800-273-TALK.
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