Ashley Biden, daughter of former President Joe Biden, has filed for divorce from her husband, Dr. Howard Krein, a plastic surgeon, after more than 13 years of marriage, according to court documents filed in Philadelphia.
The 44-year-old submitted the paperwork Monday in the city’s Court of Common Pleas. On the same day, she posted a photo on Instagram of herself walking through a park, giving a thumbs up, with Beyoncé’s “Freedom” playing in the background. She also shared a quote that read, “New life, new beginnings, means new boundaries. New ways of being that won’t look or sound like they did before.”
The reason for the split remains unclear, as Philadelphia divorce records are not public. Biden and Krein married in June 2012 in Greenville, Delaware, two years after being introduced by her late brother, Beau Biden.
Ashley publicly acknowledged her marriage while speaking at the Democratic National Convention last year. “At the time, my dad was vice president, but he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception,” she said. “He was riding around in his John Deere 4-wheeler, fixing place settings, arranging plants—and he was very emotional.”
Legal Scrutiny Over Biden’s Final Acts as President Intensifies
Meanwhile, former President Joe Biden is facing growing legal scrutiny over decisions made in the final months of his term.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has suggested that questions surrounding Biden’s cognitive state could cast doubt on the legality of some pardons and executive actions. Comer argues that the frequent use of an autopen—a device used to replicate signatures—raises concerns about whether Biden personally reviewed or approved key documents.
“It’s questionable whether it’s legal to use an autopen on such documents,” Comer said in an interview with Just the News. “But what’s clearly not legal is if the president had no idea what was being signed in his name.”
The Republican lawmaker claims his committee’s findings could potentially be used to challenge some of Biden’s clemency decisions, pointing to the president’s widely criticized performance during the first 2024 debate. Biden dropped out of the race a month later and endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Legal experts say the issue could end up in court. Former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz told Just the News in March that two key questions would determine the legality: the nature of the document being signed, and the role of the autopen.
The Constitution requires a president to “sign” bills for them to become law. “If he signed it by autopen, which is not a real signature, that would raise serious constitutional issues,” Dershowitz said. On pardons, he added, “Did he actually pardon, or did someone else sign off without his full approval?”
Concerns about Biden’s memory and mental sharpness have long been voiced by political opponents. A February 2025 report by Special Counsel Robert Hur on Biden’s handling of classified documents stated the former president would “likely present himself… as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Hur noted Biden couldn’t recall when he served as vice president—or the year his son Beau died.
In a more recent interview with The New York Times, Biden insisted he made all decisions related to pardons himself. However, aides acknowledged he did not personally approve each name on broader clemency lists.
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