Hunter Biden could soon face federal charges over his tax dealings, adding to the legal controversies surrounding President Joe Biden ahead of his expected reelection bid.
Looming above Biden’s decision over whether to seek the White House again is the possible indictment of his son Hunter in a Justice Department investigation led by David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, after months of investigations.
A Trump-appointed holdover, Weiss is said to be approaching a decision over whether to prosecute Hunter on a set of charges stemming from reported tax fraud in 2016 and 2017 and lying on a federal gun form while purchasing a handgun in 2018.
The Washington Post wrote last year that the investigation initially centered on the younger Biden’s foreign business dealings, including in China and Ukraine, but that “over time, investigators with multiple agencies focused closely on whether he did not report all of his income, and whether he lied on gun purchase paperwork in 2018,” people familiar with the situation said. Federal agents concluded at the time that they had enough evidence to charge Biden’s son.
Now, a new report in the New York Times suggests Weiss could be nearing an indictment, though this is likely to focus on tax and gun charges flagged by federal prosecutors and not the reported possible money laundering and foreign lobbying violations that drew earlier scrutiny.
FBI HAS “VOLUMINOUS EVIDENCE” OF POTENTIAL HUNTER BIDEN CRIMINALITY
Hunter has since repaid an estimated $2 million in taxes that he owed to the IRS, complicating a possible effort by Weiss to charge him, former federal prosecutors told the New York Times.
Hunter’s foreign business dealings drew scrutiny dating back to Biden’s time as vice president before they made their way on the “radar of federal prosecutors in Manhattan” who were keyed in on his attempted deals with Chinese business executives that ultimately fell apart, according to the news outlet.
The president has denied any involvement or knowledge of his son’s entanglements, and Hunter has maintained that he did not discuss his business dealings with his father. Yet reports show they occasionally surfaced in conversations between the two Bidens: Upon learning about Hunter’s seat at Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, Biden told his son, “I hope you know what you are doing,” according to an account relayed to the New Yorker.
The extent of the Biden father and son’s dealings over business is murky. However, emails indicate that the younger Biden leveraged access to his father, introducing him to his business associates on several brief occasions, even while the elder Biden served as vice president.
Hunter traveled with his father when his father was on government business, including to China, where the then-vice president again met his son’s business associates.
Joe Biden repeatedly met with his son’s business partner Eric Schwerin, including at the White House, according to public logs and a private calendar found on a hard drive of Hunter’s laptop. The Washington Examiner verified the authenticity of the drive in May 2022 by commissioning an examination of its contents.
Republicans have searched for links between Joe Biden and Hunter’s dealings, noting that Hunter and his father shared office space. Reports show Hunter asked for keys to be made for his “new office mates,” including Biden, Jill, and an associate of a Chinese business partner, and a door sign that listed his companies and a foreign joint venture, along with the Biden Foundation. Sources told the New York Times, however, that the effort was a ploy by Hunter “to impress” the building manager after sneaking a homeless person into the building to smoke crack.
The now-president’s son has weathered substance addictions that he said led to reckless behavior, though he now says he is sober. Hunter has been spotted frequently at the White House in recent months, where his daughter Naomi Biden Neal is living and recently held her wedding.
News of Hunter’s case comes amid revelations that the elder Biden may have mishandled classified documents dating from the Obama administration that were discovered last year in his private office and Delaware garage. According to CNN, the files related to Iran, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
The twin legal dramas could shake up the race for the White House as newly empowered House Republicans use their congressional authority to demand accountability from the Biden administration, with promises to investigate the president and his family’s foreign business ties.
Yet Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said he feared Biden could be poised to escape broader scrutiny in the special counsel’s investigation.
“What concerns me is the leak yesterday that the Justice Department is moving toward charges of Hunter Biden without a focus on the influence peddling,” Turley said. “If true, such charges or a plea could be used to justify a narrower scope of investigation.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two special counsels in recent months: Weiss to investigate Biden and Jack Smith to oversee another case involving classified files after former President Donald Trump refused to return documents held at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
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The timing of Biden’s documents scandal has fueled speculation about efforts to protect the president from the political repercussions of the case, which his aides said emerged days before the November elections.
After uncovering the first batch of documents on Nov. 2, 2022, the White House waited months to reveal the discovery to the public. The White House said Thursday that it found a second tranche in December as Biden’s attorneys completed a search of the president’s residences. An additional document was located at Biden’s home this week.
