Federal agents believe there is enough evidence to criminally charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes and lying about his drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018, according to the Washington Post and CBS News.
The Post reported that the US attorney in Delaware has not yet decided whether to file criminal charges in the case, as the US attorney who is overseeing the investigation of the president's son.
David C Weiss, a federal prosecutor, was originally nominated and served in Donald Trump's administration, but has continued serving in Biden's administration because of the political backlash he would have caused, given his oversight of the Biden investigation, the Post reported.
In September, more than 30 Senate Republicans asked Biden's attorney general Merrick Garland to give special counsel protections and authorities to protect the independence of his investigation.
CBS News reported that Biden's team believes that the sources who spoke to the Washington Post were motivated by frustration with the FBI over the time it takes to deliberate over this case, and that the FBI is trying to pressure the government to act Hunter Biden's lawyer, Chris Clark, who accused federal agents of illegally leaking information, and asked the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute the leak.
It is a federal felony for a federal agent to leak information about a grand jury investigation, such as this one, according to Clark, who wrote to the Washington Post. Any agent you cite as a source in your article has committed a felony. Hunter Biden was under investigation for tax related issues in 2020, shortly after his father won the presidency. Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine and China, including being paid $50,000 a month by Ukrainian firm Burisma, have attracted political scrutiny and questions about his connections to foreign businesses, given his father's political influence.
Donald Trump's attempt to uncover malfeasance by Hunter Biden and his father in Ukraine, including pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate his political rival, led to the Republican president's first impeachment by Congress.
The Washington Post reported that Hunter Biden's tax dealings were being examined by the current investigation of whether he failed to declare income related to different business dealings, including overseas.
Another alleged crime federal agents identified was Biden's claim, on a federal form he filled out to buy a handgun, that he was not addicted to or unlawfully using drugs, though he wrote in a memoir that he was using drugs often that year, the Post reported.
We believe the prosecutors in this case are diligently and thoroughly weighing not just the evidence provided by agents, but also all other witnesses in this case, including witnesses for the defense, Clark, Biden's lawyer, told the Post. They should not be pressured, rushed, or criticized for doing their job. The FBI and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.