Hunter Biden’s tangled tale comes front and centre

The way Republicans tell it, President Joe Biden has been complicit in a long-running scheme to profit from his position in public life through shady dealings around the world engineered by his son, Hunter Biden. Taking a first step in their long-promised investigation, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday demanded information about the Bidens’ banking transactions from the treasury department. And in an earlier report on the Bidens intended to lay the groundwork for hearings they plan to hold, they said they had evidence “demonstrating deliberate deception of Americans, abuse of the executive branch for personal gain, use of government power to obstruct the investigation” and more.
The real Hunter Biden story is complex and different in important ways from the narrative promoted by Republicans — but troubling in its own way. After his father became vice-president, Hunter, a Yale educated lawyer, forged business ties with foreign interests that brought him millions of dollars, raised questions about whether he was cashing in on his family name, set off alarms among government officials about potential conflicts of interest, and provided Republicans an opening for years of attacks on his father. And after the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015, Hunter descended into a spiral of addiction. He is sober now and no longer entangled in foreign business deals. He is a visible presence in his father’s life — his daughter was married at the White House in November, and he attended a state dinner last month. But his travails remain front and centre in Washington in ways both legal and political.
David C Weiss, the US attorney for Delaware, is closing in on a decision about whether to prosecute Hunter on charges stemming from his behaviour during his most troubled years. Investigators questioned witnesses about his overseas business dealings. They include his role on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company led by an oligarch who at the time was under investigation for corruption — a position that Hunter accepted while his father, as vice-president, was overseeing US policy in Ukraine.
They also include his equity stake in a Chinese business venture, and his failed joint venture with a Chinese tycoon who was later detained by Chinese authorities. Investigators have similarly sought information about interactions between Hunter Biden’s business associates and his father.
But Weiss, people familiar with the probe say, appears to be focused on a less politically explosive set of possible charges stemming from his failure to meet filing deadlines for his 2016 and 2017 tax returns, and questions about whether he falsely claimed at least $30,000 in deductions for business expenses. Weiss is also said to be considering charging Hunter, who has openly acknowledged his years of struggle with drugs and alcohol, with lying on a US government form that he filled out to buy a handgun in 2018. On the form, he said that he was not using drugs.
Hunter’s lawyers have argued that the potential charges are considered so narrow by the department that even if prosecutors believe they can prove them, they are almost always dealt with through civil actions. Regardless of what the department decides, Republicans who now control the House intend to intensify their scrutiny of Hunter in a bid to inflict damage on his father as he prepares for his likely 2024 reelection bid.