Lunden Roberts is an Arkansas woman who had a child with Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden. She sued Hunter Biden alleging that he is the father of her child in June 2019 and a paternity DNA test confirmed in November 2019 that Biden is the baby’s father, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
On July 28, 2023, President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, publicly acknowledged Roberts’ daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, as their 7th grandchild in a statement to People Magazine.
Roberts, then 28, filed a petition for paternity and child support against Biden on May 28, just days after Biden married Melissa Cohen in California. Court documents do not provide a name or say if the child is a boy or girl. Hunter Biden has four other children, including a young son with Cohen, and three daughters from his first marriage.
The petition claimed Roberts and the then-48-year-old Biden were “in a relationship” and that a baby was born in August 2018 “as a result of that relationship.” The suit asks the court to award her child support and provide health insurance for the child.
Biden had denied that the child was his but then agreed to a DNA test. The Democrat-Gazette reports the DNA test established, “with scientific certainty,” that he is the father. Hunter Biden is not planning to challenge the results, according to court documents obtained by the newspaper.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. A Child Support Agreement Was Accepted by an Arkansas Judge in 2020
GettyVice-President Joe Biden and sons Hunter Biden (L) and Beau Biden walk in the Inaugural Parade January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Lunden Roberts said in a petition filed in Independence County court on May 28, 2019, that she and the former vice president’s son “were in a relationship” and “Baby Doe” was born last August “as a result of that relationship,” the Democrat-Gazette reported.
The petition does mention how they supposedly met or any other detail
Lunden Roberts filed a paternity and child support lawsuit against Hunter Biden.
Initially, Hunter Biden was resistant to efforts to cooperate with Roberts, according to her attorney.
“We have been in contact with Hunter Biden’s attorney. We have attempted to work with Hunter and his attorney to settle this issue but that has not been successful. We are attempting to serve Mr. Biden,” Roberts’ attorney Clint Lancaster told the Democrat-Gazette in 2019. Biden later worked on a settlement with his former lover.
You can read the petition filed in Independence County court here.
NEW👉🏼 DNA testing shows Hunter Biden is the father of a child in Arkansas. Lunden Roberts of Independence County, Arkansas is asking that Biden pay child support, provide health insurance, and equally divide the costs of health-related expenses.
After the DNA test confirmed Hunter Biden is the baby’s father, the state of Arkansas said in court documents that Biden should pay child support, provide health insurance and split the cost of healthcare-related expenses, KNWA-TV reports.
In March 2020, an Arkansas judge approved a child support settlement, the Democrat-Gazette reported. Biden agreed to pay monthly child support. The amount was redacted in court documents. He also agreed to pay for Roberts attorney and court fees, the newspaper reported.
2. Roberts ‘Really Values Her Privacy,’ Her Lawyer Says
GettyPresident Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.
Lunden Roberts declined to comment on her ties to Biden. “She really values her privacy,” her attorney told the Democrat-Gazette in 2019. The petition she filed asked the court to establish that Biden is the baby’s biological father and seeks child support and health insurance for her infant, according to the report.
Roberts also asked for out-of-pocket health expenses to be evenly divided and also asked for fees, costs and “all other just and proper relief.”
“This is a parenting and child support issue between her and Mr. Biden,” Lancaster told the Democrat-Gazette. The case was made public around the time Joe Biden entered the Democratic presidential race.
“She really does not want this to be a media spectacle. She does not want this to affect Joe Biden’s campaign. She just wants this baby to get financial support from the baby’s father,” he added.
3. Roberts Is an Arkansas Native Who Played College Basketball at Arkansas State University & Was Living in Washington D.C. 2 Years Ago
Lunden Alexis Roberts played college basketball at Arkansas State University.
Lunden Alexis Roberts is from Batesville, Arkansas. She is a graduate of Southside-Batesville High School, where she was an all-conference and all-state basketball player and an all-state softball player. As of 2010, she held the Arkansas state record for single-season free throw percentage, sinking 96.4 percent of her free throws during the 2007-2008 season. She was a McDonald’s All-American nominee and played for the Arkansas Mavericks AAU team, helping lead them to a state championship and a fifth-place finish in the 2008 AAU National Championships.
After graduating from high school in 2009, Roberts attended Western Illinois. Her coach at the time, Leslie Crane, said in a profile on the college’s website, “Lunden is a great ball handler and can finish at the glass or with a jump shot. She is very savvy on the floor and has a lot of game experience. In Arkansas, teams play 30 plus games a year, and with AAU basketball added on top of that, she’ll come in with plenty of game experience.”
After one season at Western Illinois, Roberts transferred closer to home to play at Arkansas State University. She played one season for the Red Wolves and then appears to have left the team. She graduated from Arkansas State in 2014 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, according to the college’s website.
Little else is known about Roberts. Her social media profiles have been taken down and she has not responded to requests for comment. The Arkansas State website says she is, the “daughter of Kim and Rob Roberts,” and “also enjoys hunting and shooting skeet.” Her father owns a gun works shop in Batesville.
Roberts was living in Washington D.C. two years ago studying crime scene investigation in graduate school and working with the FBI, according to a family member’s Facebook post. It is not clear what school she was attending to get her master’s degree. Public records show she was living in D.C. and Virginia from 2015 to 2018.
4. Arkansas Law Could Have Complicated the Case, if Hunter Biden Hadn’t Agreed to a Settlement With Roberts
Hunter Biden with Barack Obama and Joe Biden
The petition does not indicate the Biden has any ties to Arkansas, which attorneys said could complicate the issue. Little Rock attorney Dustin Duke explained that filing for paternity is one thing but child support is another matter.
“If they’re living here in Arkansas, then Arkansas [is] generally going to have jurisdiction over paternity of the child,” Duke told the Democrat-Gazette. “If he’s never stepped foot in the state of Arkansas, if he has no connection to the state of Arkansas, then child support actually has to be decided in whatever state he lives in.”
The petition lists Biden as a resident of Annapolis, Maryland. Biden agreed to a settlement rather than challenging whether Arkansas had jurisdiction.
5. Hunter Biden’s Relationships Have Been in the Spotlight in Recent Years
Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen.
Biden’s relationship problems and other issues have drawn headlines in recent years.
Biden was discharged from the US Naval Reserve in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine a month after he was commissioned as an ensign, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In 2015, Biden was listed among the customers of Ashley Madison after the site, which encouraged married users to cheat on their spouses, was hacked and its client list was published.
He and his wife Kathleen separated in 2015 and were formally divorced in 2017. Kathleen Biden accused Hunter of “spending extravagantly on his own interests (including drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, strip clubs and gifts for women with whom he has sexual relations), while leaving the family with no funds to pay legitimate bills,” The Associated Press reported.
In March 2017, Biden confirmed that he was dating Hallie Biden, the widow of his brother Beau, who died of cancer in 2015, Page Six reported.
The pair split in April and Hunter Biden married 32-year-old Melissa Cohen, a South African native, just one month after meeting her.
Igor Derysh contributed to this report.
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