He’s gotten a lot of negative press lately, but the media are persecutors, not prosecutors. Is he actually in legal jeopardy?
Vox says (here) the potential charges against him are tax violations, money laundering, and/or acting as an unregistered foreign lobbyist, but investigators long have doubted “the strength of the case, so it’s not a certainty that he’ll be indicted.”
Hunter’s well-paid work for businesses and wealthy businessmen in Ukraine, China, and Kazakhstan has raised eyebrows. Vox notes that, “Critics have argued he was at the very least trading on his father’s name, or that foreign interests were paying him exorbitantly in hopes of pleasing his father.” And notes further that even liberals acknowledge he “may perhaps be kind of corrupt … [in] the grubby world of DC influence-peddling.”
There’s no question that Hunter traded on his father’s name and connections. As Vox explains, “For pretty much his entire adult life, Hunter Biden has been in the business of being Joe Biden’s son.” That, by itself, isn’t a crime. “There is nothing inherently illegal about accepting money and gifts from foreign interests if you are a private citizen and your dad is a famous, powerful person.” But “you do have to pay taxes on it.”
And the fact he paid the IRS $1 million last year to discharge tax liabilities suggests he didn’t pay those taxes when he was supposed to. And the investigation has broadened to whether he violated money laundering and foreign lobbying laws. But the latter is a question of what work he was paid for, and how you characterize it. Whether he broke laws gets into technical legal complexities; as Vox says, “Sometimes the lines blur.”
On the other hand, Hunter has a law degree, and studied at two of the country’s top law schools, Georgetown and Yale. If anyone could figure this stuff out, he should, and making that kind of money also gave him access to top-flight legal counsel.
So far, no charges have been filed, and it’s not clear any ever will be. But Hunter has a checkered personal history, and he’s not out of the woods yet. Last month a CNN legal analyst said there’s “a realistic chance” he may be indicted (see that story here).
One thing seems obvious, though: Even if the infamous “Hunter laptop” is genuine, it’s unlikely to ever be used as evidence in a court of law, because even the guy who “found” it describes it as hopelessly compromised (watch video here).
Photo: Hunter Biden is paying $20,000 a month rent on this Malibu house; but hey, you should check out Kremlin kids’ London and Paris digs (here)
