President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has reached a deal on federal charges related to tax crimes and the illegal purchase of a handgun while he was an illicit drug user, the Justice Department wrote in a court filing on Tuesday.
The president's son has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of "willful failure to pay" his federal income taxes, and the Justice Department said Hunter Biden will be entering a "Pretrial Diversion Agreement" pertaining to possession of a firearm "by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance," according to the filing.
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U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware brought the limited charges amid whistleblower allegations that the Justice Department investigation was politicized and as Joe Biden insists his son has done nothing wrong.
Weiss’s office put out a press release on Tuesday, noting that Hunter Biden had been hit with “two misdemeanor tax offenses and a felony firearm offense.” The Delaware federal prosecutor said that “the investigation is ongoing.”
The younger Biden's attorney, Chris Clark, issued a statement claiming, however, that "it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved."
"Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government," Clark said. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward."
“The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House Counsel's Office spokesman Ian Sams told reporters on Tuesday. "We will have no further comment.”
The charges related to “two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax" were in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203, while the illegal gun purchase violated 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2).
“On or about October 12, 2018 through on or about October 23, 2018, in the District of Delaware, the defendant Robert Hunter Biden, knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance … did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver," Weiss's office said in a new court filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
“Hunter Biden received taxable income in excess of $1.5 million annually in the calendar years 2017 and 2018. Despite owing in excess of $100,000 in federal incomes taxes each year, he did not pay the income tax due either year,” the U.S. attorney’s office said on Tuesday, adding, “If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.”
Republicans have long contended Hunter Biden's lucrative business dealings in Ukraine and China indicate he may have committed crimes related to foreign lobbying or money laundering, but the new charges fell far short of that.
In February 2021, Joe Biden asked all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Donald Trump to give their resignations, with Weiss being a rare exception.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has repeatedly vowed to ensure that Weiss is insulated from any political interference and has refused to appoint a special counsel. The investigation has been marred by allegations of political bias and retaliation against whistleblowers.
Lawyers for an IRS whistleblower on the Hunter Biden tax case said earlier this year that their client, supervisory special agent Gary Shapley, had documented examples of "preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting" the Hunter Biden case. The IRS supervisory special agent rejected the "sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee.”
A source familiar with the whistleblower letter confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Garland was the unnamed senior Biden official whose testimony before Congress is being challenged.
"There were multiple steps that were slow-walked — were just completely not done — at the direction of the Department of Justice," Shapley said when he gave his first public interview in late May. "When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process. It was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past."
A second IRS whistleblower, a yet-unnamed case agent, has also now alleged retaliation for raising concerns that Justice Department leadership was "acting inappropriately" on the investigation into Hunter Biden.
Both whistleblowers were removed from the federal investigation into possible Hunter Biden tax violations in May, which the first whistleblower’s lawyers called “clear retaliatory.”
Kevin Morris, a close Hunter Biden confidante, appears to be the current owner of Skaneateles, an LLC started by the younger Biden that held Hunter Biden’s 10% share in the Chinese investment firm Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company, or BHR. Representatives for Hunter Biden said last year that he had paid off a roughly $2 million past-due tax bill. He allegedly did so by taking out a massive loan from Morris, who has been helping with shaping his media narrative and his legal strategies.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Tuesday that "Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist." He promised that "these charges" and the "sweetheart plea deal" will have "no impact" on his committee's investigation into the Biden family's alleged "pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery."
Congressional Republicans led by Trump have hammered Garland to appoint a special counsel into Hunter Biden since even before the DOJ leader appointed one to investigate the former president in November, but Garland has refused.
Joe Biden was interviewed by MSNBC in May, and he was asked how Hunter Biden being investigated and possibly charged by his own DOJ would affect his presidency.
“First of all, my son has done nothing wrong,” Biden declared. “I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.”
Comer released new financial records from his investigation into “the Biden family’s influence peddling and business schemes” in May by highlighting bank records related to Hunter Biden-linked business deals in Romania and China.
Amid the threat of being held in contempt of Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray allowed members of Comer’s House Oversight Committee to review an FD-1023 form this month that contained the allegations made through a confidential FBI informant that Mykola Zlochevsky, the Ukrainian owner of Burisma, funneled $5 million to Joe Biden when he was vice president and $5 million to Hunter Biden in an alleged bribery scheme to pressure Ukraine to oust a prosecutor allegedly investigating Burisma.
In addition, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed a less redacted version of the form he has viewed says Zlochevsky claimed to have 17 recordings of his conversations with Biden and his son as an "insurance policy."
The Hunter Biden charges also come as the GOP-led House Judiciary and Intelligence committees have unearthed a host of new details about the October 2020 Hunter Biden laptop letter by more than 50 former intelligence officials, including that former acting CIA Director Mike Morell was “triggered” to organize the letter by now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discredit the New York Post's reporting on the abandoned laptop.
Joe Biden claimed during an October 2020 debate with Trump that Hunter Biden had not done anything wrong in Ukraine and had not made any money from Chinese business deals.
“Nothing was unethical,” Joe Biden said, arguing at length he had done no wrong during his son’s lucrative time on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma, before adding, “My son has not made money in terms of this thing about — what are you talking about — China. I have not had it. The only guy that made money from China is this guy. He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China.”
The Biden White House stood by that claim.
Hunter Biden said in early December 2020 that he was “confident” he handled his affairs “legally and appropriately.” The Biden-Harris transition team said at the time that the president-elect was “deeply proud of his son."
Hunter Biden and his associated businesses are also believed to have received millions in payments from CEFC in 2017 and 2018, including since-convicted CEFC Deputy Patrick Ho agreeing to pay Hunter Biden a $1 million retainer. Hunter Biden referred to Ho as "the f***ing spy chief of China" in a May 11, 2018, voice recording.
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The Washington Examiner reported last year that Hunter Biden spent over $30,000 on escorts, many of whom were linked to ".ru" Russian email addresses and worked with an “exclusive model agency" called UberGFE during a 3 1/2 month period between November 2018 and March 2019. He managed to do so thanks in part to Joe Biden committing to wiring him a total of $100,000 to help pay his bills from December 2018 through January 2019.
On Ukraine, Grassley said last year that he had been provided possible evidence of criminality tied to Hunter Biden’s work for Burisma, which reportedly paid Hunter Biden $50,000 a month to serve on its board for a period when his father was vice president.
Kaelan Deese contributed to this report.