The next move will be made by a Delaware U.S. attorney who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump. Federal investigators believe they have enough evidence to charge President Joe Biden’s son Hunter with tax offenses and making a false statement about a gun purchase.
The reports come years after the investigation into the president’s son started in 2018. Initially focused on his finances regarding his work abroad, such as with the Ukraine energy giant Burisma, the investigation has since shifted to determine whether he failed to report his income and whether he lied on his paperwork in 2018 about whether he used drugs when purchasing a gun.
The United States is handling the matter. Trump nominated David Weiss, an attorney in Delaware, in 2017, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has stated that the case will not be subject to political pressure. Weiss’ spokesman, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the IRS all declined to comment, but Chris Clark, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, charged that federal investigators had leaked information about the inquiry.
Given that Trump and his allies have exploited claims of corruption in Biden’s financial activities to target Democrats before and after his father won the 2020 election, the decision to prosecute Biden with crimes will have political repercussions.
Whether Hunter Biden failed to disclose money from his multiple business operations, including ones offshore, has been the main focus of the tax probe.
Trump’s aides announced during the 2020 campaign that Biden had left his laptop at a Delaware computer repair shop and that it had been given to the FBI.
By December of that year, federal officials were interested in speaking with Biden. He publicly disclosed that he was being investigated but expressed confidence that the inquiry would reveal that he had conducted his business in a lawful and ethical manner.
His lawyer, though, said on Thursday that he hasn’t spoken to any federal investigators.
