The investigation, which had already been concluded once, received new rounds on Friday, when the US Attorney General appointed a special prosecutor to investigate criminal suspicions against the president’s son.
President of the United States Joe Biden of a boy Hunter Biden actions will be investigated by the special prosecutor. The appointment was announced on Friday by the US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Read here what the long-running investigation is all about.
Why are Hunter Biden’s actions being investigated again?
Criminal suspicions against Hunter Biden have been investigated since 2019.
In June 2023, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to two tax crimes and reached a plea deal with prosecutors for felony gun possession. However, at the court hearing held at the end of July, where the agreement had to be confirmed, disagreements surfaced.
Biden’s lawyers had understood that the agreement also meant ending the investigation against Biden. According to the prosecutor, this was never agreed upon, and so the agreement lapsed.
This week David Weiss was named a special prosecutor whose investigation will likely lead to the trial of Hunter Biden.
What will be investigated in the investigation?
The long-running investigation has focused especially on whether Hunter Biden has committed illegalities in his foreign transactions.
Doubts have been raised from the ranks of the Republican Party that the Biden family would have benefited from Hunter’s transactions in Ukraine and China, among others.
So far, no evidence has been presented that Joe Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings or that he in any way promoted his son’s business activities while serving in the White House.
So far, the investigation has revealed two cases of abuse. Biden failed to pay $100,000 worth of income taxes in 2017 and 2018. He also illegally possessed a firearm. Hunter Biden has admitted to these crimes.
What will be the impact on next year’s presidential election?
President Joe Biden told MSNBC in May that he trusted his son and that Hunter “has done nothing wrong.”
According to opinion polls, Biden’s support for his son has been interpreted by voters as a sign that the president is a good father.
Democrats point out that the Hunter investigation did not have a significant impact on the 2020 presidential election or the 2022 congressional midterm elections.
In the Republican camp, it is hoped that the investigation will divert attention away to Donald Trump of suspected crimes. Investigations led by the special prosecutor also have the characteristic that they can lead to unpredictable directions.