Hunter Biden in December was scheduled to testify before House Republicans as part of their sprawling investigation into his finances and whether his father inappropriately used his influence to aid his son’s business dealings. He refused to do so unless the testimony was held in public, instead holding a rare news conference outside the Capitol where he accused Republicans of a “baseless inquiry” and gave an emotional defense of his father. Republicans have used their findings in the Hunter Biden probes, including thousands of pages of bank statements and dozens of witness interviews with associates of Biden family members, to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, but they have yet to provide any solid proof that the president used his influence to aid his family’s business ventures or financially benefitted from any of the deals himself. The president has repeatedly denied having any direct involvement in his family’s business dealings.
Hunter Biden is expected to enter a plea in federal court in Los Angeles Thursday, where he is charged with nine counts, including three felonies, accusing him of failing to pay $1.4 million taxes from 2016 through 2019, and filing false returns, among other charges. Hunter Biden was also indicted in federal court in Delaware in September on a separate gun charge accusing him of purchasing a firearm while he was an active drug user. He has pleaded not guilty.
After years of laying low and staying out of the public eye as he became a prominent target for Republican attacks, Hunter Biden and his legal team have deployed a more aggressive counterstrategy in recent months. He sued Rudy Giuliani and Giuliani’s former attorney in September, accusing them of illegally sharing personal information they claim to have obtained from his infamous laptop left at a Delaware computer repair store, which became a source for a bombshell New York Post story that suggested then-Vice President Biden had contact with his son’s Ukrainian business partners. Hunter Biden also sued the owner of the repair shop and filed a defamation lawsuit against Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in November. Byrne, a Trump ally who has promoted various Republican conspiracy theories, accused Hunter Biden of soliciting a bribe from the government of Iran, claims Hunter Biden’s attorneys called “complete nonsense” in the lawsuit.
