A federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings is rapidly heating up – and legal analysts now believe the son of President Joe Biden could find himself indicted on federal charges.
CNN reported that “a flurry of witnesses” have been “providing testimony to federal investigators,” with more witnesses expected to appear for interviews in the coming weeks.
That’s in addition to a Wall Street Journal report saying federal prosecutors have been seeking detailed information on Biden’s income from Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company that paid him a reported $50,000 a month to sit on its board while his father was vice president.
Republicans smelled a rat, given that Hunter Biden had no history or expertise in the field.
But the media dismissed it as a conspiracy theory.
Now, they may be about to eat those words.
“This is a very real, very substantial investigation of potentially serious federal crimes,” former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said on the network this week. “We are seeing federal prosecutors in Delaware do exactly what you would expect to see federal prosecutors do in this situation.”
The Journal said investigators are asking Biden’s associates about his history of substance abuse as well as his financial and emotional state in 2018… less than one year before his father threw his hat into the ring in the presidential race.
Allegations of corruption in Ukraine dogged Hunter Biden for years, causing President Donald Trump to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the family’s dealings in the country.
When Democrats found out, they impeached him over it.
But the latest allegations suggest serious questions over what took place there, including possible crimes.
“There is a realistic chance this could result in federal charges,” Honig said. “Of course, then we’d be in unprecedented political territory – not legal territory but a situation of having potentially the Department of Justice prosecuting and trying to imprison the son of the president.”
Biden has engaged in other lucrative overseas work, including in China and in Europe.
Earlier this month, The Hill reported that prosecutors were looking into whether he may have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act as well as potential money laundering allegations.
CNN added this week that investigators are examining possible breaches of firearm laws.
While it’s not yet clear if he has broken any laws, Hunter Biden’s salacious history has made for tabloid fodder… at least, for publications brave enough to publish the reports.
He was booted from the Navy Reserve for drug use, then spent years fighting addiction and relationship problems including an affair with his brother’s widow that ended his first marriage and a history with prostitutes.
Biden wrote a book about how he’s cleaned himself up and did a brief media tour where he ducked the most difficult questions.
He’s also remade himself as an artist – and, in another eyebrow-raising move, selling his art.
The White House claimed it set guidelines for Biden’s agent to follow to avoid any conflicts of interest, claiming via a spokesperson that they are following “the highest ethical standards of any administration in American history.”
But the prices he’s fetched for the work only raised more questions: Some paintings have sold for as much as $300,000, and he’s sold prints for $50,000, causing many to wonder who the buyers were and what they really expected for that money.
Biden has denied any wrongdoing.
CNN said some friends have suggested he could argue he wasn’t aware of his wrongdoings because of his drug use.
He’s also taken steps to potentially rectify some of the possible allegations. Earlier this month, for example, the New York Times reported that he told friends that he took out a loan to pay off $1 million in tax liabilities apparently related to the Justice Department investigation.
While that could settle any outstanding financial issues, The Hill noted at the time that it wouldn’t shield him from any charges… but might lead to a lighter sentence should be indicted and convicted.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.