Kathleen Buhle says she let Hunter Biden handle their finances because she 'liked the nice things' and didn't 'think about the cost'

• Kathleen Buhle "ceded control" of her family finances to ex-husband Hunter Biden, she told ABC.
• "I liked the nice things. And I didn't want to think about the cost at which they were coming," she said

Kathleen Buhle said she "ceded control" of her family's finances to ex-husband Hunter Biden because she "liked the nice things" but "didn't think about the cost" in an interview with ABC News' Good Morning America.

Buhle, who was married to Hunter Biden for 24 years, detailed his battle with drug and alcohol addiction and the downfall of their rocky marriage in her new memoir "If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing," which was released on Tuesday.

Buhle told ABC's Amy Robach that her decision to let Hunter Biden handle all their financial affairs "was one of the harder parts to write," of her book, calling it "embarrassing" that she "ceded control" to her husband, the adult son of President Joe Biden.

"I liked the nice things. And I didn't want to think about the cost at which they were coming," Buhle said. "Writing this book really helped me to understand how unfair that was to Hunter, and how unhealthy that was for me."

Buhle recalled how after Hunter Biden came back from a stint in rehab in 2003, he told her they owed tax money but he had set up a plan to pay back the taxes they owed, and that he "wasn't worried."

Hunter Biden has been under a federal investigation related to his tax affairs and business deals since late 2020. And Buhle said that even if she were asked to testify in any investigation into her ex-husband's finances, she wouldn't have any knowledge or insight to offer.

"I have buried my head in the sand. I really hope that's a lesson that women hear: understand your finances, take responsibility for them," Buhle said.

Hunter Biden and Buhle, who have three daughters together, officially divorced in 2017. After 24 years of marriage — and being known as Kathleen Biden — Buhle said retaking her maiden name was "frightening" but "empowering."

"I think it was because the Biden name was so much a part of my identity," Buhle said. "The idea that I was a 49-year-old college-educated woman with a community of support, relatively smart, I really felt like I couldn't make it on my own. And that's crazy. It was frightening, but I did it, and it felt empowering."

Buhle added that her memoir "isn't a story about who's right or who's wrong," but about her story and her "relationship to Hunter's addiction."