On top of two looming criminal trials that could result in the first son being put behind bars, Hunter Biden also owes millions of dollars in alimony to his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, according to a new report. Ms. Buhle is expected to testify at his trial in Delaware this week for an illegal gun purchase. 

According to District of Columbia court records first obtained by Axios, as of April 2023, Mr. Biden owed nearly $3 million in alimony to Ms. Buhle as part of their divorce agreement. The two were married for 24 years and have three children. 

Their 2017 divorce settlement stipulated that Mr. Biden would pay his former spouse $37,000 per month and half of whatever money he made over $875,000 annually, according to the court records. When Mr. Biden failed to make those payments shortly after their divorce, Ms. Buhle in 2019 filed a civil suit against him in a D.C court. 

She claimed Mr. Biden refused to pay in both 2017 and 2018, when he was making millions yearly, according to his criminal indictment for failing to pay his taxes. That indictment first disclosed the existence of the alimony agreement. 

“On or about October 13, 2018, instead of responding to D.C. Accountant, the Defendant texted his ex-wife that he could not make his alimony payment because ‘the wire came back due to insufficient funds–/you know tuitions alimony taxes rent. Jesus,’” the indictment, which was filed in California, says. “The Defendant had not paid his 2017 taxes when he sent that text.”

“‘I have no money [ex-wife]. I’m waiting on a few things. When I can pay the taxes, I will pay the taxes. I’m (sic) the meantime I’m struggling to pay your alimony and all girls expenses,’” Mr. Biden wrote to Ms. Buhle. 

On January 29, 2021, the D.C. Superior Court determined that Mr. Biden was in violation of his divorce settlement with Ms. Buhle, and that he owed her $1.7 million in alimony, fees, and legal expenses at that time. By 2023, Ms. Buhle’s lawyer said that the amount owed had ballooned to $2.9 million. 

Ms. Buhle’s attorney stated in that April 2023 court filing that Mr. Biden had borrowed “millions of dollars to pay federal back taxes and accumulated child support (and attorney fees) in Arkansas,” which was hampering his ability to make his alimony payments.

A wealthy Hollywood attorney, Kevin Morris, has been bankrolling the first son’s lifestyle. He told House impeachment investigators that he was worth around $100 million, and had been paying Mr. Biden’s rent and legal fees after helping him pay off his tax debts, which totaled more than $1 million, according to the California indictment. 

“Ms. Buhle previously told this court that the expense and emotional toll this has had on her is enormous and appears to be never-ending. Those feelings have not changed,” her attorney wrote in April 2023. 

At one point, the alimony fight grew incredibly acrimonious, with the first son hinting that his ex-wife was trying to embarrass President Biden during his 2020 campaign. 

“It is likely hoped that there will be some financial intervention, funded by some third-party, to help Mr. Biden with these obligations, in an effort to avoid the anticipated embarrassment to his father’s presidential campaign,” his lawyer wrote in a July 2020 legal filing. “There will be no intervention satisfying Mr. Biden’s obligations.”

Ms. Buhle will soon come face-to-face with her ex-husband in court, though not for the alimony dispute. Special Counsel David Weiss has called Ms. Buhle to testify in his federal trial for an illegal gun purchase — a trial that is set to begin Monday. She and her former sister-in-law, Hallie Biden, who was married to Beau Biden before his death and then began an affair with the first son, are expected to talk about Mr. Biden’s crippling drug addiction following his brother’s death and his 2018 purchase of the firearm.

Ms. Buhle is listed as “Witness 1” in a list of those called to testify filed by Mr. Weiss at the Delaware federal court. “Witness 1 was previously married to the defendant. They divorced in April 2017, but through 2018 she would check his vehicle from time to time because she did not want their children in a vehicle with drugs. While searching his vehicles, she found drugs or paraphernalia on approximately a dozen occasions, which she discarded in a trash can,” Mr. Weiss wrote.