The president-elect’s son announced his tax affairs are under scrutiny.
President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter is under investigation by the Justice Department, Hunter confirmed in a statement issued by the Biden transition Wednesday. “I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” the statement reads. “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.” After this announcement, several news outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Politico, and the New York Times, provided more details on the probe, citing anonymous sources “with knowledge of” or “familiar with” the inquiry. The investigation was reportedly opened in late 2018, before Bill Barr became attorney general. It has focused on Hunter’s business dealings in China and began as a money laundering probe, but is now focusing on potential violations of tax law. The investigation was kept “covert” to avoid influencing the election, and Hunter was indeed only told of it Tuesday. And Joe Biden “is not implicated,” per CNN. President Trump has long seized on Hunter’s work for foreign interests to try to argue that Joe Biden was corrupt. Trump’s 2019 effort to pressure Ukraine’s president into announcing an investigation of the Bidens eventually led to his impeachment. More recently, in October, Trump allies leaked emails, texts, and images — purportedly from a hard drive owned by Hunter, or provided by associates of Hunter — to media outlets, in an effort to swing the election in Trump’s favor. With news of the investigation, some of these Trump allies have claimed vindication. But the main argument they and Trump made at the time was that Joe Biden was corruptly involved in Hunter’s dealings — and that has not been shown to be true. The inquiry is “focused on Hunter Biden and some of his associates, not the president-elect or other family members,” the Times reports. But the news raises questions for both the outgoing Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration. One question is whether Trump himself knew of the investigation or improperly influenced it in any way, or whether it’s a legitimate probe that’s proceeded without political interference. The second question is how Biden’s Justice Department will handle an investigation of the new president’s son — and whether, if there really are violations of the law here, Biden appointees will vigorously pursue them.
