One member of the Biden family who drew scorn from former President Donald Trump during last year’s bitter campaign has been front and center since his father, President Biden, was sworn into office: Hunter Biden.
The new president was joined by family members, including Hunter Biden, at a prayer service on the president’s first full day in office on Thursday. The presidential offspring, who is under federal investigation, shared an embrace with his father on the west front of the Capitol moments after the patriarch was sworn in on Wednesday. He also was close by his father when the first family entered the front door of the White House several hours later.
His participation in the inaugural events has provided a visual answer to Trump’s campaign rally attack line: “Where’s Hunter?”
Members of the Biden family had gathered in the State Dining Room to watch the virtual inaugural prayer service ceremony hosted by the Washington National Cathedral. The customary interfaith service dates back to the inauguration of George Washington and was held virtually this year for the first time.
Announcing the program, Presidential Inaugural Committee CEO Tony Allen said it would “provide a moment to reflect on the unprecedented challenges we face, as we enter this new American chapter of healing to beat the pandemic, build back our economy better, and unify our country.”
The president sat with first lady Jill Biden awaiting the start, and several of their grandchildren sat behind them. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff had their own row.
Hunter Biden entered the room through the back with his wife, Melissa, as Patti LaBelle sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” his second visit to the White House since his father took office on Wednesday.
Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president, is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, reportedly over his business dealings.
In one investigation, the “investigators appear to be focused on Hunter Biden’s business activities connected to China” and “at least one of the matters investigators have examined is a 2017 gift of a 2.8-carat diamond” that the president’s son received from Chinese tycoon Ye Jianming in 2017, according to CNN.
In a second investigation, law enforcement officials sought detailed financial information from Hunter Biden in connection with a federal tax investigation by the United States attorney’s office in Delaware. The president’s son disclosed the investigation in December but maintained that he handled his affairs “legally and appropriately.”
The Biden transition team said he was “deeply proud of his son” at the time, a sentiment the now-chief executive has repeated when asked about the investigations by reporters. Hunter Biden has “fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger,” the transition team’s statement added.
During the presidential campaign, a trove of documents from a laptop purported to belong to Hunter Biden leaked to the media, which one of his business associates later said is real. One email made reference to a carve-out of a deal for “the big guy,” allegedly Joe Biden.
The president is not suspected of wrongdoing and has not been implicated in the investigations. On the campaign trail, he said he would establish “an absolute wall” between his office and his family’s financial interests.
The investigations will soon fall under the jurisdiction of Biden’s attorney general.
Biden’s nominee for the position, Merrick Garland, has promised to head a nonpartisan Justice Department, but first, he must be confirmed.
He is expected to face questions from Republicans over his anticipated handling of the Hunter Biden investigations, including from the outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally.
Two weeks ago, Graham told Fox News that he would query Garland on the issue.
“I’m going to ask him … will you allow the prosecutor in Delaware to proceed forward against Hunter Biden without interference? And I’m dying to hear what he will say,” Graham said.
Now-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in December that Biden “will not be discussing an investigation of his son with any attorney general candidates.”
