First Lady Jill Biden said that her stepson, Hunter, is innocent, despite federal authorities’ claims that there is sufficient evidence to charge him with federal crimes.
Biden made the claim during an exclusive interview with NBC News in her East Wing office.
Her stepson is under federal investigation for allegedly committing tax and weapons violations and faces potential imprisonment if convicted.
In 2018, the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware started an inquiry into Biden for allegedly evading taxes in 2015 and breaking firearms restrictions when he acquired a handgun.
The IRS levied a $112,805 lien on Biden in 2015, while he was on the board of Ukrainian energy business Burisma Holdings.
According to The New York Times, Biden paid a “substantial” amount in delinquent taxes in late 2020.
In 2018, the president’s son applied to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, claiming that he had never used illicit drugs.
He later acknowledged in his 2021 biography that he was using crack cocaine regularly at the time he bought the gun.
If his claim turns out to be accurate, he may have violated 18 U.S. Code 922, which prohibits an individual from making a false or fake oral or written statement or obtaining a handgun while an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled narcotic.
He may have also broken the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Republicans in Congress have begun an investigation into Biden’s international business transactions with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma and the Chinese energy company CEFC.
For his part, Hunter’s father President Biden has repeatedly attempted to downplay the issue of his son’s alleged crimes.
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