Current:Home > MarketsHunter Biden's indictment stopped at gun charges. But more may be coming -Core Financial Strategies
Hunter Biden's indictment stopped at gun charges. But more may be coming
View
Date:2025-04-19 21:15:06
The indictment of Hunter Biden on Thursday made one thing all but certain: President Joe Biden will embark on a 2024 reelection bid dogged once again by his son's tumultuous business and personal life.
The younger Biden is facing felony charges related to false statements in purchasing a firearm, and a third count of illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs. But with prosecutors continuing to scrutinize his overseas business deals and financial records, the gun charges might soon be just one thread in a potential web of legal troubles.
In June, Hunter Biden struck a plea agreement with prosecutors that would have allowed him to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses -- before the deal fell apart during a court hearing in July after U.S. Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed concern over the structure of the agreement.
MORE: Hunter Biden indicted by special counsel on felony gun charges
Special counsel David Weiss subsequently withdrew the two tax charges in Delaware with the intention of bringing them in California and Washington, D.C. -- the venues where the alleged misconduct occurred.
Investigators have examined whether Hunter Biden paid adequate taxes on millions of dollars of his income, including money he made from multiple overseas business ventures. ABC News previously reported that in 2022, he borrowed $2 million from his lawyer and confidant Kevin Morris to pay the IRS for back taxes, penalties and liens that he owed.
Prosecutors have not offered a timeline for the tax charges.
Meanwhile, the president's political foes have latched onto Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings to level allegations depicting the entire Biden family as corrupt, despite uncovering no clear evidence to date indicating that Joe Biden profited from or meaningfully endorsed his son's work.
"Today's charges are a very small start, but unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden's DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy," House Oversight Chair James Comer said in a statement to ABC News, referencing unproven allegations against Hunter Biden and his father.
MORE: Timeline: Hunter Biden under legal, political scrutiny
Comer said Republicans are looking for indictments related to "money laundering, violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, tax evasion, the list goes on and on."
A White House spokesperson has said that "congressional Republicans, in their eagerness to go after President Biden regardless of the truth, continue to push claims that have been debunked for years," and that President Biden "was never in business with his son."
veryGood! (464)
Related
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- West Virginia GOP Senate president, doctor who opposed drawing back vaccine laws ousted in election
- Kansas City Chiefs' Harrison Butker References Taylor Swift in Controversial Commencement Speech
- Florida private school principal arrested on abuse charge after sheriff's office reviews video
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- How Pink’s Kids Are Shaping Up to Be Rockstars Like Their Mom
- Pizza Hut newest dish: A cheeseburger patty melt made with pizza crust and mozzarella
- Body of US airman fatally shot by Florida deputy returned to Georgia ahead of funeral
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- 'Young Sheldon' finale: Date, time, cast, where to watch and stream last Season 7 episode
Ranking
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Former St. Catherine University dean of nursing, lover accused of embezzling over $400K
- Future of Texas’ migrant-blocking buoys may hinge on whether the Rio Grande is ‘navigable’
- Raccoon on field stops play in MLS game. How stadium workers corralled and safely released it.
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Supreme Court lets Louisiana use congressional map with new majority-Black district in 2024 elections
- Barge hits Texas bridge connecting Galveston and Pelican Island, causing partial collapse and oil spill
- 'Bridgerton' returns for Season 3: How to watch romance between Colin and Penelope
Recommendation
Small twin
Where to watch NFL schedule release 2024: Time, TV info, international and Christmas games
Angela Bassett mourns loss of '9-1-1' crew member who died in crash: 'We're all rocked by it'
Reported sex assaults in the US military have dropped. That reverses what had been a growing problem
Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
Dallas Mavericks push top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder to brink with big Game 5 road win
White House blocks release of Biden’s special counsel interview audio, says GOP is being political
Researchers find 'fluffy oddball' of a planet with a composition similar to cotton candy