Federal prosecutors weigh tax and gun charges against Hunter Biden

Amna Nawaz:

New details have been revealed in an ongoing FBI probe of Hunter Biden.

Laura Barrón-López breaks down what we know and what we don't know about the investigation.

Laura Barrón-López:

That's right, Amna.

The Washington Post, among others, has reported that federal investigators believe they have enough evidence to charge the president's son, Hunter Biden, with tax crimes and making a false statement related to a gun purchase.

Investigators sent their findings to the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware, where a prosecutor will decide whether to pursue criminal charges.

Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett broke the story yesterday. And he joins us now.

Devlin, thanks for being here.

Hunter Biden has been the subject of scrutiny on the right for a long time. Bring us up to speed on why agents are looking into him and what got us to this moment.

Devlin Barrett, The Washington Post:

So, this investigation began about four years ago. And it stayed under wraps for a long time. But it sort of burst into public view in a very unusual way just before the 2020 election, when Republican operatives and advocates started talking about a found laptop and Hunter Biden e-mails that were on it.

And ever since then, it's been an intense political debate as to whether Hunter Biden did anything wrong. And all the while, an investigation has been quietly going on. And what we now know is that the federal agents who've been doing that investigation have reached — have reached the point where they believe they have enough evidence to charge Hunter Biden with income tax crimes and a possible gun charge.

Laura Barrón-López:

And on the tax crimes, it's focused solely on him not reporting all of his income?

Devlin Barrett:

Right.

So one of the big areas that the investigation looked at was, did he report all of his income from his various business deals that were also in the mix of this investigation at different points? And so what they what they have come to the conclusion of is that, in fact, he did not report some of that income.

But there has not been a charging decision yet. This is what the agents have found it, but it's up to prosecutors to decide whether to file charges.

Laura Barrón-López:

And we know about this because there was a leak. I mean, have there been leaks like this before, and where charges have ultimately never materialized? Or is it pretty much a foregone conclusion that he will be charged?

Devlin Barrett:

I don't think anything's a foregone conclusion.

And I think, in many investigations, particularly investigations of high-profile people, reporters find out parts and bits of information along the way. There are still some things we don't know. And those are important. But I also think this is an interesting and important moment in this investigation that's been going on so long, because now it's very clear that the decision has to be made.

Laura Barrón-López:

I asked the White House today for comment on the case. And, of course, they're not commenting. They say that this is an ongoing investigation. And that's the way they have been treating a lot of investigations, even the ones concerning former President Trump.

But how is Attorney General Merrick Garland responding to this?

Devlin Barrett:

So, Garland, even before he became the attorney general, he was under pressure from Republicans to appoint a special counsel to handle this, on the theory and the accusation that a Democratic administration couldn't fairly investigate the son of the sitting Democratic president.

And what Garland has said and keeps saying when he's asked in public is that he has tapped a Trump appointee prosecutor, a holdover from the last administration, to run and supervise this investigation.

Laura Barrón-López:

David Weiss.

Devlin Barrett:

David Weiss.

And the case will stay and he will remain supervising this case. And he, Garland, has vowed not to interfere, not to allow any interference with that work. And that's where things stand now.

Laura Barrón-López:

And so can you explain what would ultimately happen? In your report, you say that, eventually, criminal tax charges have to be — have to go through the Justice Department.

Devlin Barrett:

Right.

So one of the quirks of how Justice Department works is that, if you are going to file criminal charges, as opposed to civil charges, criminal charges have to be approved when it comes to tax cases by main Justice, by Justice Department headquarters. So that's sort of a bit of a quirk in this process.

And we have yet to see how that may affect or not affect the ultimate outcome of this case. But that's a key distinction that is not true for other types of criminal investigations.

Laura Barrón-López:

And Republicans have been fixated on Hunter Biden's name for a while and his business dealings and have in some cases tried to create this equivalency between investigations into him and investigations into former President Trump.

How is the Justice Department, main Justice, as we call it, is dealing with that, navigating it?

Devlin Barrett:

So, it's been a headache from day one. It's been a headache before even Attorney General Merrick Garland took on that job.

And it's really — it's one — it's basically, in some ways, the very first test Garland had. He's had — he's had a few big political tests. One of them is the Hunter Biden case. The other is the January 6 case. And now we have the Mar-a-Lago investigation.

All of these things, sort of raised questions about, can this Justice Department fairly investigate a politically sensitive case? And one of the big questions that this case raises is, if and when the Justice Department reaches its conclusions, will it change anyone's mind?

Because, politically, people have been arguing about Hunter Biden for years now. Will the Justice Department settle the question once and for all? That remains to be seen.

Laura Barrón-López:

What's the response from Hunter Biden's lawyer to all of this?

Devlin Barrett:

So, Hunter Biden's lawyer is unhappy that any of this information is out there now. Hunter Biden's lawyer argues that it is improper for any federal officials to be providing this information, and they're just unhappy that this information has gone into the public.

Laura Barrón-López:

One piece of your report also notes that prosecutions on gun — when a subject lies on a gun purchase form are pretty rare.

So how did this get mixed in there? Is this something that will just — you think will be attached, if it is a criminal vs. civil charges?

Devlin Barrett:

So, he is under investigation for possibly lying on a form you fill out for buying a gun, when he apparently — allegedly said that he didn't have a substance abuse problem.

By the telling of his own autobiography at that time, he did have a very serious substance abuse problem. And that's a legal issue for him.

Laura Barrón-López:

And, very briefly, how unprecedented is all of this, Devlin?

Devlin Barrett:

It's unprecedented, but there's always going to be politically sensitive investigations that touch upon or near the White House.

So, in that sense, we have seen other cases like this. The son of a sitting president, that is unusual, but there's always going to be politically sensitive investigations.

Laura Barrón-López:

Devlin Barrett, thank you so much for your time.

Devlin Barrett:

Thanks for having me.