WASHINGTON, DC: As per recent claims, Hunter Biden's daughter, Naomi Biden, allegedly participated in an act of vandalism at the US Capitol in 2011 when she served as a Senate Page.
The incident, which apparently occurred while her grandfather, Joe Biden, held the position of Vice President, led to an unexpected apology from Hunter, as per the New York Post.
Naomi, then a 17-year-old student at DC's prestigious Sidwell Friends High School, had secured a coveted position as a Senate Page for Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who was the powerful majority leader at the time.
Naomi Biden's vandalism incident
In June 2011, Naomi Biden and a fellow page were granted an unusual privilege, a tour of the Capitol dome, typically reserved for members of Congress and their guests. During this visit, it is alleged that she and her companion defaced the walls surrounding the historic dome by carving their names into the stone.
A former staffer who worked under Senator Reid at the time recalled, "It was vandalism. I remember perfectly. On the tour of the rotunda when you go up to the top of the dome, they carved their names into the stone."
The damages apparently required extensive remediation efforts, including the involvement of architects to restore the defaced area.
"It’s up at the very top so you can only have a couple of people up there at a time. It would have had to have been on the tour. There is no way they could have gotten up there at any other time," the source recalled, adding, "They had to bring in architects and everything to buff it out," as per the New York Post.
A second former staffer indicated that Joe Biden was informed of his granddaughter's misconduct.
Hunter Biden apologized for his daughter Naomi Biden's alleged act of vandalism
On June 30, 2011, Hunter Biden sent a desperate email to Elizabeth Roach, the longtime boss of the Senate Page program, expressing his remorse and concern over Naomi Biden's behavior.
He wrote, "I am Naomi Biden’s Dad. I cannot express how sorry I am for Naomi’s behavior. I have been in meetings all day and just heard . . . what happened. As soon as Naomi is finished work today I will be speaking with her. I am very disappointed in their behavior, but understand that the intent was not malicious."
Roach responded, "Thank you for the email and for reinforcing to Naomi the gravity of the situation. I instructed the pages to write apology letters to the sergeant at arms and the deputy sergeant at arms. Naomi wrote very appropriate notes to each of them."
Terrance W Gainer, the former sergeant at arms who received Naomi's apology letter, reflected on the incident, stating, "The fact that it happened is not shocking. These young teenage kids, the first time they were away from home did a variety of things. Our goal was to correct them and guide them as we could so they could be successful there."
In defense of the actions taken, a source with direct knowledge of the situation claimed that carving names into the stone had been a "tradition" among Senate Pages and that "countless other Senate Pages" had engaged in similar acts of defacement.
Surprisingly, there appeared to be minimal formal consequences for Naomi's involvement in the alleged vandalism as just a few weeks after the incident, in August 2011, she accompanied the Vice President on a diplomatic trip to China.
Internet slams Hunter Biden over claims of his daughter Naomi Biden's alleged act of vandalism
Netizens were quick to slam Hunter Biden and his family over the acts of his daughter. Some even drew connections between Naomi Biden's actions and those of her family.
A user said, "Not surprised," as one wrote, "Like father so goes the daughter."
"Apples generally fall close to the tree," read a comment.
Someone else stated, "The hubris of this type knows no bounds. She was never taught to respect property; thugs and crooks the lot of them I suppose."
One more expressed, "Zero respect for anything and anybody!!!!"
