Tragic Details About Joe & Jill Biden's Youngest Daughter Ashley

The following articles include discussions of addiction and mental health illness.

Ashley Biden had successfully lived out her life away from the spotlight that shone blight over Hunter Biden. Until 2020, for all the public knew, she was a wife and social worker who focused on bettering the lives of children and families in Delaware. She offered a breath of fresh air amid the tragedies and scandals that have befallen the Biden family. All that changed when her diary was published online. As journals tend to be, Ashley's entries discussed intimate confessions.

The messy scandal involving Ashley's diary ended with the arrest of a Florida woman. Aimee Harris was convicted and sentenced to a month in prison for stealing private property in April 2024, The New York Times reported. Harris took the journal from a home where Ashley had lived for a time with a friend in Florida and sold it to Project Veritas, a right-wing media group, just before the 2020 elections. Having her deepest secrets exposed isn't something Ashley will be able to get over anytime soon.

While a lot of the struggles Ashley has faced have come out because of the diary leak, she has also faced other, more public adversities. She is the second surviving child among four siblings, and losing one sibling to tragedy is hard enough, let alone two. The loss of her big brother, Beau Biden, had a deep effect on her, but her journey with trauma has also inspired her to make positive changes through an accessible mental health initiative. Ashley's own healing, however, is far from over.

Ashley Biden has lost two of her three siblings. The first, her sister Naomi, died when she was just 1, long before Ashley was even born. Naomi was one of the fatal victims of the December 1972 car accident that also killed Joe Biden's first wife Neilia. Joe and Neilia's two sons, Beau and Hunter, were seriously injured but survived after a lengthy hospital stay. Even though Ashley never knew Naomi or Neilia, the tragedy had a huge impact on the family.

A similar tragedy would strike again in May 2015, when Beau died from brain cancer at just 46. Ashley was devastated. "There are no words that could adequately describe my love, admiration, and adoration for my brother," she said at his funeral (via MSNBC). "Nothing I say will give justice to what he means to me, to us." Beau, who was 12 years older than Ashley, featured prominently in her childhood memories, making it hard for her to pick just one. However, she said she would always remember what happiness meant to her as a child. "When I was in first grade, I drew a picture of what made me happy. And it was me holding hands with my two brothers, and I wrote 'Happiness is being with my brothers,'" she said. 

Years after Beau's death, Ashley continued to grieve the loss. "I just miss just being with him, just in the same room saying nothing," she told Jenna Bush Hager in a 2021 Today interview. "He was 46 when he passed. Dad will be the 46th president."

When her diary was stolen, all of Ashley Biden's most intimate life moments, thoughts, and ponderations were put out there for everyone to see — and comment on. In her diary, Ashley included details about her sex life and suggestions of adultery against her husband, Howard Krein. While questioning her high sex drive, Ashley delved into childhood memories that might have caused it. In it, she mentioned showering with Joe Biden as a child. That entry became of particular interest to the public, especially Joe's detractors. "Ashley Biden wrote in her diary that Joe Biden would come into the shower with her, and yet you supported him," one user wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.

Seeing how her journal allowed the public to insert judgment into her personal and family life based on writings from a highly sensitive time caused Ashley long-lasting emotional damage. "Repeatedly, I hear others grossly misinterpret my once-private writings and lob false accusations that defame my character and those of the people I love," Ashley wrote in a letter to the judge in which she asked for prison time for Aimee Harris (via CNBC).

The consequences of having her diary stolen and published couldn't be undone. That made it hard for Ashley not only to move on from the events she described but also added an even bigger hurdle to her healing. "Because of the publicity it drew — exactly as Ms. Harris intended — I am constantly re-traumatized by it," she wrote.

While her legal troubles pale in comparison with Hunter Biden's, Ashley Biden has been arrested twice. In 1999, when she was a fresh new student at Tulane University, she was arrested for possession of marijuana and later released on bond in New Orleans, the New York Post reported in 2009. "She was freaking out. She was like, 'I'm in this cell." She was not happy," said Nat Berman, a former classmate who claimed to have paid between $200 and $400 to bail her out. The charges were later dropped.

Berman said Ashley's early days at college were marked more by socializing than studying. "She was very attractive. Everybody at Tulane knew that she was a party girl," he said. Two years later, Ashley found herself in a similar situation. In July 2001, the then-20-year-old got a ticket for underage drinking and paid a $125 fine after pleading guilty, Gawker reported in 2009. In August 2002, Ashley was arrested a second time for obstructing a police officer outside a Chicago bar, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The misdemeanor charge stemmed from a brawl that escalated when someone threw a bottle at the police. Ashley attempted to block the officer who tried to arrest her friend while making "intimidating statements," a police spokesperson said. Two months later, Ashley apologized for her actions, and the charges were dropped, the Chicago Tribune reported. Calling the issue a private matter, Joe Biden declined to comment.

Ashley Biden's issues with drugs went on to become a lot more serious than the petty crimes for which she once got in trouble. Her struggles with addiction haven't been as highly publicized as Hunter Biden's drug use, but some of it surfaced when her diary leaked. Ashley started the journal as a coping mechanism during her recovery. According to Axios, she had even been an out-patient in a Florida rehab facility and relapsed when Joe Biden announced his presidency bid. "I relapsed. F***ing again," she wrote in her diary in March 2019.

She opened up about her struggles to Joe and Jill Biden, who didn't take it lightly. "Mom + Dad worried but incredibly supportive. I am so lucky to have them on my side. They've never given up on me," she continued in the same entry. She was unable to stay sober for the next several months, adding to the family tension amid Joe's campaign obligations. "My dad cried on the phone saying he has the debate in a week + 'now has to worry about you,'" she revealed in a July 2019 entry.

But Ashley remained hopeful for her future. "[It] definitely involves sobriety," she wrote when she started the diary. Despite her struggles, she showed up for Joe throughout the campaign, praising his life lessons at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. "He has taught me that a courageous heart is a miraculous thing. A courageous heart can heal a family," she said (via NPR).

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Ashley Biden's mental health was heavily impacted by the death of Beau Biden. Her brother's years-long health struggles took a toll on the whole family, leaving them vulnerable. "Brain cancer is horrendous, and watching someone you love go through that is horrendous," she told Elle in 2023. She's thankful she sought help in time. She highlighted the positive effects of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a therapy that seeks to help patients deal with traumatic memories.

Through side-to-side eye movements and sometimes other techniques, the therapist seeks to stimulate the brain's natural healing mechanisms. "EMDR did wonders for me when it came to my brother's death," she said. Beau's death wasn't the first time she had dealt with PTSD as she also suffered from it in her youth. "After being the victim of a crime in my early twenties, I developed PTSD," she said in her letter during the trial of Aimee Harris, the woman who had stolen her diary.

While she didn't go into detail regarding the crime, she revealed the diary had been an effort to heal. "The extensive work I have done to move past my trauma was undone by Ms. Harris's actions," she argued. Despite the setback, Ashley had already left a positive mark. In the Elle interview, she revealed her plans to open an accessible trauma center. "If you have money and something happens, you can go to the best therapist you can find," she said. "That doesn't happen for people who are living in poverty."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.