Hunter Biden Paid Tax Bill, but Broad Federal Investigation Continues
WASHINGTON — In the year after he disclosed a federal investigation into his “tax affairs” in late 2020, President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, paid off a significant tax liability, even as a grand jury continued to gather evidence in a wide-ranging examination of his international business dealings, according to people familiar with the case.
Mr. Biden’s failure to pay all his taxes has been a focus of the ongoing Justice Department investigation. While wiping out his liability does not preclude criminal charges against him, the payment could make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction or a long sentence for tax-related offenses, according to tax law experts, since juries and judges tend to be more sympathetic to defendants who have paid their bills.
But Mr. Biden’s taxes are just one element of the broader investigation stemming from work he did around the world. Hunter Biden is a Yale-educated lawyer; his professional life has intersected with his father’s public service, including working as a registered lobbyist for domestic interests and, while his father was vice president, pursuing deals and clients in Asia and Europe .
As recently as last month, the federal grand jury heard testimony in Wilmington, Del., from two witnesses, one of whom was a former employee of Hunter Biden whose lawyer was later subpoenaed for financial records that reflected money Mr. Biden received from a Ukrainian energy company.
The investigation, which began as a tax inquiry under the Obama administration, widened in 2018 to include possible criminal violations of tax laws, as well as foreign lobbying and money laundering rules, according to the people familiar with the inquiry.
But prosecutors face a number of hurdles to bringing criminal charges, the people familiar with the investigation said, including proving that Mr. Biden intentionally violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires disclosure to the Justice Department of lobbying or public relations assistance on behalf of foreign clients.
The Justice Department has given no public indication that it has made decisions about any element of the case, and Mr. Biden has not been charged with any crime.
When he disclosed the investigation after the 2020 election, Hunter Biden said that “a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately.”
Mr. Biden’s lawyer, the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware, which is overseeing the investigation, all declined to comment.
For President Biden, the long-running case is both politically and personally fraught. Hunter Biden’s work for Burisma Holdings , the Ukrainian energy company, became a flashpoint in his father’s race in 2020 against President Donald J. Trump and helped set off the events that led to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment.
The elder Mr. Biden now oversees the Justice Department that is carrying out the investigation. And Hunter Biden, who in recent years has pursued a career as a painter , has acknowledged serious drug addiction and other problems during the period when he was seeking international business, while dealing with the illness and death of his brother Beau.
The investigation is being overseen by David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware. He worked in the office during the Bush and Obama administrations, and was nominated to run it by Mr. Trump. Mr. Weiss has been permitted to remain in office until the Biden case is resolved.
Hunter Biden told associates in recent months that he paid the federal taxes that had been the subject of Justice Department scrutiny. He told one associate that the tax liability was more than $1 million, and that he had to take out a loan to pay it off.
Federal tax prosecutors generally fight to keep jurors from knowing whether defendants have paid their back tax bills, arguing that the crime happens when the return is falsely filed or not filed at all, said Jeffrey Neiman, a former Justice Department tax prosecutor and a partner at Marcus, Neiman, Rashbaum & Pineiro. Such knowledge could influence jurors, even if a judge asks them not to consider it.
Mr. Neiman said that defense lawyers encourage clients to pay their back taxes if they believe they could be indicted on federal tax crimes, as it often helps with sentencing.
Mr. Biden’s extensive work with foreign businesses came under scrutiny from prosecutors looking into whether he should have registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent.
Investigators have examined Mr. Biden’s relationships with interests in Kazakhstan, a Chinese energy conglomerate and Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company, according to people familiar with the investigation.
They said prosecutors had investigated payments and gifts Mr. Biden or his associates had received from foreign interests, including a vehicle paid for using funds from a company associated with a Kazakh oligarch and a diamond from a Chinese energy tycoon. Prosecutors also sought documents related to corporate entities through which Mr. Biden and his associates conducted business with interests around the world.
But there has been debate within the Justice Department over whether the available evidence proves that Mr. Biden intended to violate FARA, which the government must prove in order to secure a criminal conviction. The prosecutors have discussed approaching potential FARA violations as a civil matter, which would require Mr. Biden to register retroactively as a foreign agent, but would avoid criminal charges, according to the people familiar with the case.
Such a resolution could complicate a potential money laundering case, since money laundering is typically charged in connection with another crime.
Over the last two years, federal prosecutors in Delaware have issued scores of subpoenas for documents related to Hunter Biden’s foreign work and for bank accounts linked to him and his associates, including two formerly close business partners, Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer, according to people familiar with the investigation....
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This is as much a journalism scandal as it about influence peddling and money laundering by the President's son.
Referencing this 17 months ago got one banned from Twitter as the Democratic media rallied around Biden to protect him. And of course, Joe Biden, despite knowing the story was true, lied and claimed it was Russian disinformation.
2 years late is better than never I guess.
... no wonder the trumpsters hate him.
thanks for showing why the NYT framed the article the way it did, distracting liberals with an unimportant tidbit knowing they won't read the details. Paying back taxes is the least of his concerns. It isn't a defense to being convicted of tax fraud, and tax fraud is just one of the many problems Hunter Biden is facing, which those who read the story understand.
Where are the former CIA Directors and Jen Psaki who called it Russian disinformation?
Deflecting by referring journalists to the DOJ and Hunter Biden's handlers.
They know he is guilty and they figure of they can avoid any "circling back", then they will stay on the clear and the media will continue to protect them (they will)....but real Americans know the truth.
It is impossible to have a "fair" election when US media is controlled by one political party and/or their handlers.
There are valid reasons to distrust Joe Biden and the US media when it comes to their monetary support for escalating war in Ukraine instead of brokering peace. Biden and his ilk seem to make more money instigating wars than brokering peace agreements.
The New York Times finally admitted it.
Your witch hunt of Hunter Biden is going nowhere. Give it up!
P.S. We voted for Joe, not Hunter
I'm not a member of the DOJ.
We voted for Joe, not Hunter
Lol. You must be desperate if you peddling blatant hypocrisy is the best you do.
It is the expected reply according to an article that I am reading today.
And we still haven't even seen Trump's tax returns?
The Time did, in fact publish Trump's stolen tax returns. And twitter, and other left wing media companies had no problem publishing stolen information. It's only the Bidens who information gets protected (and it wasn't even stolen).
We haven't seen your tax returns either. Since you are so eager for private information to be published, why don't you set the example and publish yours?
If so, then prove it by providing us with a copy...
Go find them yourself.
Nope, "Details" aren't Trump's full tax returns!
No legal requirement.
Much ado about nothing.
I voted for Joe, not Hunter.
When Republicans regain control of Congress, there should be investigations into the Biden family's dealings with China, Russia. and especially Ukraine