Former First Son Hunter Biden filed court documents Tuesday that said he was never legally required to maintain a relationship with his 7-year-old daughter, so it doesn’t matter that he “ghosted” his youngest child and violated child support payments.
The 55-year-old son of former President Joe Biden responded to a January 13 motion filed by Lunden Roberts, who asked an Arkansas judge to hold Biden in contempt of court and jail him for failing to pay child support.
Biden’s lawyer Davis Langdon said the child’s emotional state and relationship with Biden are not important because the court never legally ruled that Biden should talk to his daughter.
“Specifically, the averments regarding the Child’s emotional state, her relationship with Defendant, and their communications and bonding … are not relevant to contempt or modification of child support,” Langdon wrote in the filing.
Roberts had claimed in her motion that Biden and his family caused their daughter Navy Joan Roberts “emotional trauma” by cutting off all contact. Roberts said the girl “longed for” and “dreamed” of a relationship with her father, and they spoke several times during scheduled calls before Biden stopped communicating.
“Suddenly and without warning or explanation, Mr. Biden ghosted [Navy],” Roberts stated in her motion. “This has caused issues for [Navy], who recently experienced emotional trauma at a family member’s wedding when she realized that her dad would not walk her down the aisle or dance with her at her own wedding reception.”
Roberts further alleged that Biden failed to deliver artwork he had promised as part of the 2023 settlement, which he agreed to do in order to reduce his monthly child support payments by 75%. The agreement required Biden to give their daughter “a specified number of paintings he had created and that she selected,” according to court documents.
The paintings were sold for huge amounts to Democratic donors while Biden’s father was serving as president, but Roberts said their value has vanished since the Biden family left office.
In his response, Biden’s team said that no legal timeline was established for delivering the artwork as compensation for child support, so it doesn’t matter.
“Even if no paintings had been given to the Child to date, such would not violate the Order, because as long as thirty paintings are assigned to the Child by Defendant will have complied with the Order,” Langdon wrote.
The filing said Navy will be able to choose the paintings she wants by a specific deadline, though the deadline was not disclosed.
Roberts also requested an increase in child support payments, citing Biden’s “lavish lifestyle” and the disparity between Navy’s life and that of Biden’s other four children. Biden has three children with ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and one child with his current wife, Melissa Cohen.
“Ms. Roberts has reached out to Mr. Biden numerous times about [their daughter] asking to speak with him, but the defendant, in classic, classless form, refuses to respond,” Roberts’ motion stated.
Hunter should be jailed “in the Independence County Detention Center as a civil penalty until he purges his contempt by complying with this court’s orders,” her legal team requestd.
Biden was convicted on federal gun charges and tax evasion in 2024 but received a sweeping presidential pardon from his father in December 2024.