Joe Biden ‘confident’ of son Hunter’s innocence on tax probe

• President-elect Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is confident his son did nothing wrong, as Hunter faces a criminal tax investigation.
• The disclosure of the investigation came days before Biden was confirmed by the Electoral College as president-elect.
• President Trump’s campaign used Hunter Biden’s drug addiction and connection to Ukraine and China against his father’s candidacy.

On Wednesday, President-elect Joe Biden expressed his confidence that his son did nothing wrong as Hunter faces a criminal tax probe by federal prosecutors in their home state of Delaware.

It is the first time that the president-elect has publicly stated that he believes Hunter, who has not been charged by prosecutors, is innocent of criminal wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, he was asked by a Fox News reporter, “Are you confident your son Hunter did nothing wrong?”

He answered, “I am confident.”

Last week, Hunter disclosed that he’s under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware for possible tax fraud.

“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,” Hunter Biden, who is a lawyer, said in a statement.

In a statement, Joe Biden’s transition team had said “President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger.”

Trump’s campaign team used Hunter Biden’s drug addiction and business connection to Ukraine and China as weapons to attack his father’s candidacy.

Last year, Trump pressured Ukraine’s president to announce a probe of the Bidens, as Trump was withholding military aid to the country.

He was later impeached by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives for that move but was acquitted at trial in the Republican-led Senate.

Recently, Trump has reportedly pushed the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to handle the Hunter Biden investigation.

Two weeks ago, Joe Biden told CNN that he will not attempt to influence the Justice Department’s decision.

Public documents reveal that Hunter and his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle were hit with an Internal Revenue Service lien for unpaid taxes totaling $112,805 in November 2019. The lien was lifted in March.

Separately, on July 9, the District of Columbia imposed a lien on Hunter Biden for unpaid individual income taxes of almost $453,890 for the years 2017 and 2018, CNBC reported. Those liens were cancelled six days later, records show.

Source: CNBC