President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is under federal investigation — and the scandal just got very serious.
Hunter Biden is facing up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for a handgun violation.
And that’s just the beginning.
Politico reported on Thursday that two years ago, Hunter and his sister-in-law turned girlfriend Hallie Biden — who after Beau Biden passed away — were involved in a domestic dispute.
Hallie reportedly took a handgun registered to Hunter and threw it in the dumpster behind a grocery store, then returned to later to retrieve the firearm but it was lost. The gun was later returned by a local man, who claimed he’d found it.
Delaware police were called and began investigating whether the handgun was used in a crime.
“But a curious thing happened at the time: Secret Service agents approached the owner of the store where Hunter bought the gun and asked to take the paperwork involving the sale, according to two people, one of whom has firsthand knowledge of the episode and the other was briefed by a Secret Service agent after the fact,” Politico reported.
According to their report, the store owner refused to turn over the papers to the Secret Service agents, suspecting them of wanting to hide Hunter’s ownership of the missing gun. The paperwork was instead turned over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
By merely possessing the firearm, Hunter faces potentially serious legal peril.
POLITICO obtained copies of the Firearms Transaction Record and a receipt for the gun dated Oct. 12, 2018.
Hunter responded “no” to a question on the transaction record that asks, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?” Five years earlier, he had been discharged from the Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine, and he and family members have spoken about his history of drug use.
Lying on the form is a felony, though prosecutions for it are exceedingly rare.
Neither Hallie Biden nor George Mesires, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, responded to requests for comment.
Lying on ATF Form 4473 is a felony that has a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The firearm incident is just the latest of the legal problems facing Hunter Biden. The Justice Department has been investigating the finances of President Joe Biden’s son, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings, his tax returns, and other transactions.
The tax investigation was launched in 2018, the year before the elder Biden announced his candidacy for president. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation in December.
“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,” he said in a statement at the time.
Hunter Biden has a history of international affairs and business dealings in a number of countries. Former President Donald Trump and his allies have accused him of profiting off his political connections, and have also asked questions related to his work in Ukraine at the time his father was vice president and leading the Obama administration’s dealings with the Eastern European nation.
While his father was vice president, Hunter joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014, sparking concerns about the perceptions of a conflict of interest given the elder Biden was deeply involved in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
In the weeks before the election, Trump supporters used the existence of a laptop they said was connected to Hunter Biden — and the emergence of someone who maintains he had business discussions with him — to raise questions about Joe Biden’s knowledge of his son’s activities in Ukraine and China.
The president has said he did not discuss his son’s international business dealings with him and has denied having ever taken money from a foreign country.
The laptop surfaced publicly in October when The New York Post reported on emails that it said had come from Hunter Biden’s laptop and that it said it received from Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.
The Associated Press contributed to this article