Hunter Biden decries 'weaponization' of his drug addiction

Hunter Biden decried the "weaponization" of his drug addiction in an op-ed published Thursday in which he accused "partisan and craven" Republicans of using it to destroy his reputation and tarnish his father's presidency.

"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," the younger Biden wrote in a column published Thursday in USA Today, offering stark details about his struggles and the political and legal turmoil he's facing.

Biden was critical of both Republican-led congressional investigations centered on his business dealings, calling them "high-pitched but fruitless," and of his ongoing criminal prosecution related to possession of a gun while using drugs. He said charges in the case "appear to be the first-ever of their kind brought in the history of Delaware."

In the op-ed, Biden said that he is prouder of his recovery from drug addiction than anything he's done. He said he does not consider himself a victim but argued that his fight for sobriety has been weaponized by his father's political opponents.

"My struggles and my mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained disinformation campaign against him," Biden wrote.

Republicans intensified their focus on Hunter Biden in relation to a personal laptop he dropped off at a computer repair shop in 2019 and never returned to claim. Republicans mined its content for embarrassing details about Biden and possible evidence of wrongdoing.

Last month, Biden pleaded not guilty to three felony charges in a federal courthouse in Delaware in connection to a 2018 gun purchase while he was struggling with narcotic use.

House Republicans have accused Biden and other members of his family of acting as conduits for foreign bribes that landed in his father's bank account - but provided no solid evidence implicating the president.

In July, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) showed what appeared to be sexually explicit images of Hunter Biden during a House Oversight hearing, drawing a rebuke from Democrats.

"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 Thursday.

Those people, he added, are "desperate for a way out and being bombarded by the denigrating and near-constant coverage of me and my addiction on Fox News (more airtime than GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis) and in The New York Post (an average of two stories a day over the past year)."

Biden went on to say: "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."