Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max In June of 2015, HUNTER BIDEN and his then-wife KATHLEEN BUHLE were driving from Delaware to their home in Washington, D.C. the day after the funeral for Hunter’s brother, BEAU BIDEN. Hunter, who had struggled with sobriety since a 2010 relapse, pulled the car over at one point and told Buhle he was interested in running for office in Delaware, just as his father and brother had done. “You know, as horrible as I feel, I have a feeling of real purpose,” he said, according to his memoir, “Beautiful Things.” “What are you talking about,” Buhle replied, according to her new memoir released today, “If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing.” “You’ve only been sober a few days. We live in D.C., Hunter. This is insane.” In his book, Hunter concedes he underestimated “how much the wreckage of my past and all that I put my family through still weighed on Kathleen. I suppose her response … was entirely warranted.” It’s one of the few events President JOE BIDEN’ s son and former daughter-in-law agree on in their dueling memoirs as they both document the unraveling of their 24-year marriage which has been traumatic for the entire family. Both books make for poignant and uncomfortable reading. Many people in Biden world have been whispering about Buhle’s book since it was announced in January. Buhle goes out of her way to try to ensure her story is not a commentary on Biden or his presidency. She repeatedly documents his graciousness and kindness to her. The names “Biden” and “Hunter” do not appear in her book flap’s biography. The 2020 election and DONALD TRUMP are not part of the story. Still, Biden allies have dreaded the arrival of the memoir, which they feel is an unhelpful airing of the Biden family’s dirty laundry. The White House did not get the chance to review the book before it was sent to the publisher. The books give differing versions of the events surrounding the demise of their relationship. Weeks after that car ride when Hunter brought up running for office, both describe a healing 22-mile walk on July 2 for their anniversary – a mile for every year of marriage. The next day, they attended a couple’s therapy session. According to Buhle, that’s where she told Hunter the hike was a turning point. “You spoke so openly and honestly that I really feel I can forgive you. We never need to discuss your infidelity again,” she says she told Hunter. In addition to his substance abuse, Buhle documents how she learned Hunter had cheated on her over the past year because of photos on his iPad. Buhle writes that Hunter “looked blank,” and a silent minute passed before he said: “I’m sorry. I have to get back to the office,” and left the session. Hunter, meanwhile, writes in his book that he told Buhle and the therapist the hike had been cathartic and left him feeling hopeful. But he says Buhle then replied: “You can say that you’re sorry for the rest of your life and it wouldn’t matter. I’m never going to forgive you.” “I was floored,” Hunter writes. But he also recounted walking out of the session. “[I] bought a bottle of vodka, and drained it.” There are other differences, too. Hunter claims that Buhle discovered his affair with HALLIE BIDEN, Beau’s widow, from messages on an old iPad left at home. “That gave her the gift of justification: I was the sicko sleeping with my brother’s wife. Everything blew up after that.” Buhle, meanwhile, writes that Hunter had left his phone at home and that their daughters discovered the affair through text messages on it — and then told both their parents. After that dramatic scene, Buhle says she sat in her kitchen with Hunter’s phone and went through texts where he was both “mean” and “tender” with “dozens of women — none of whom I’d ever heard of before. I was struck by the number of them who clearly thought they could save him.” Buhle also writes that as Hunter struggled with addiction, he could turn mean towards her. At various times, he called her “so goddamn dumb,” “the dumbest person I’ve ever met,” and, at least twice,” an “idiot.” Hunter’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment about the book. Buhle also recounts Hunter’s evolving relationship with Hallie. Hunter maintains the relationship didn’t become sexual or romantic until the fall of 2016 — something Buhle is implicitly skeptical about in her book. Before Beau’s death, Buhle said she and Hallie were close and frequent running buddies when the family got together. “She was strong-willed and opinionated, and I admired her ability to get what she wanted,” Buhle writes of Hallie. “As the years went by, she would become a trusted friend, someone I turned to often when I worried about Hunter.” But in the summer of 2014, their friendship took a turn. After Buhle told Hallie about the photos suggesting Hunter’s infidelity, Hallie advised her: “If you leave him, Kathleen, he’ll find someone else, and then you’ll have to live with that.” When Buhle began seeing people again after the divorce, a date asked her if she ever imagined reconciling with Hunter. She writes: “He slept with my sister-in-law,” I said, still smiling. “That’s kind of a deal breaker for me.” TEXT US — Are you AUSTIN LIN, special assistant to the president and deputy director of technology? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098.
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