WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Navy Reserve discharged Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter this year after he tested positive for cocaine, U.S. officials confirmed.
The discharge of Biden, a 44-year-old lawyer and managing partner at an investment firm, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. He confirmed the report in a statement to CNN.
“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,” he said.
Biden was commissioned as an ensign in May 2013 and assigned as a public affairs officer in a Norfolk, Virginia-based reserve unit. A month later, he tested positive for cocaine, and he was discharged in February, according to the report.
The U.S. official said the Navy never had contact with the vice president’s office over the issue, and that standard procedure for failed drug tests is administrative discharge. The vice president’s office didn’t comment on the report.
Hunter Biden is the younger of Biden’s two sons. His older brother, Beau Biden, is Delaware’s attorney general and a major in the Delaware Army National Guard. He was deployed for a year in Iraq.
