Why Is Hunter Biden Under Federal Investigation For His 'Tax Affairs'?

The Department of Justice is actively investigating Hunter Biden’s “tax affairs” and business dealings, just days before the Electoral College is expected to formally select Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.

Federal prosecutors in Delaware launched the probe in 2018, a year before President-elect Biden announced his 2020 bid. However, Hunter Biden was not informed of the investigation until Tuesday, CNN reported.

“I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” Hunter Biden said in a statement.

“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 added.

Hunter and his former wife Kathleen Buhle had received an Internal Revenue Services lien after failing to pay a total of $112,805.09 in taxes until this past March, NBC News reported.

Federal authorities also are investigating Hunter’s finances, including his Chinese business dealings. Some of the transactions allegedly involved people who prompted counterintelligence concerns.

Last year, the New Yorker revealed that in 2013, Hunter accompanied his father to Beijing, where he received a diamond from an unnamed Chinese energy tycoon. The younger Biden dismissed the idea that the gift was bribery and told the magazine that he gave the diamond to an associate.

“What would they be bribing me for? My dad wasn’t in office,” Hunter Biden said.

The investigation remained dormant in recent months after the Justice Department barred legal actions that could influence the U.S. election. On Tuesday, prosecutors issued subpoenas, which included one for the younger Biden, a person with knowledge of the investigation told the Associated Press.

Hints of the investigation emerged in October after the FBI seized a laptop and a hard drive allegedly belonging to Hunter. The devices were sent to a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, where a repairman notified federal authorities of what he had in possession.

The store owner gave a copy of Hunter’s alleged hard drive to President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who then gave a copy to The New York Post. It remains unclear whether the laptop’s contents are relevant to the ongoing federal investigation.