UNTOLD STORIES OF HUNTER BIDEN
I. Introduction
A. Overview of Hunter Biden's business dealings and financial practices
B. Analysis of documents and hard drive reveal $11 million earned from 2013-2018
II. National Security, Business Ethics, and Legal Exposure
A. Questions raised about potential national security risks
B. Concerns about business ethics and potential legal exposure
C. Acknowledgement of federal investigation into taxes
III. Influence and Access
A. Potential for foreign powers to gain influence through proximity to Hunter Biden
B. Possibility of Hunter Biden having compromised himself
C. Previous concerns raised about Hunter Biden's new line of work
IV. Financial Struggles
A. Admissions of reckless spending and drug addiction
B. Difficulty in paying mortgages, alimony and child support
C. Allegations of outstanding debts and unpaid bills
V. Conclusion
A. Summary of concerns and questions raised about Hunter Biden's financial practices and business dealings
B. Statement from representative that tax responsibilities have been satisfied
C. Reminder that paying off debts may not relieve criminal liability.
JB Quinnon
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has recently come under scrutiny for his business dealings and financial practices. An NBC News analysis of a copy of Biden's hard drive and iCloud account, as well as documents released by Republicans on two Senate committees, revealed that from 2013 through 2018, Hunter Biden and his company brought in about $11 million via his roles as an attorney and a board member with a Ukrainian firm accused of bribery and his work with a Chinese businessman now accused of fraud.
These documents and the analysis raise serious questions about national security, business ethics, and potential legal exposure. In December 2020, Hunter Biden acknowledged in a statement that he is the subject of a federal investigation into his taxes. NBC News was the first to report that an ex-business partner had warned Hunter Biden that he should amend his tax returns to disclose $400,000 in income from the Ukrainian firm, Burisma. Republican congressional sources have also stated that if Republicans take back the House in the upcoming fall elections, they will demand more documents and probe whether any of Hunter Biden's income went to his father, President Joe Biden.
Former Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, stated that “No government ethics rules apply to him,” but added that “it’s imperative that no one at DOJ and no one at the White House interfere with the criminal investigation in Delaware.” Shaub had previously raised questions about Hunter Biden's new line of work, selling his own paintings, which created the potential for people to purchase a painting to buy perceived influence, and also because the White House became involved in the transactions, arranging that none of the buyers’ names be known to Hunter Biden, the White House or the public.
Frank Figliuzzi, the FBI’s former assistant director for counterintelligence, said there is a national security risk when foreign powers like China see an opportunity to get close to someone like Hunter Biden. “It’s all about access and influence, and if you can compromise someone with both access and influence, that’s even better,” said Figliuzzi. “Better still if that target has already compromised himself.”
The documents and the analysis indicate that few of Hunter Biden's deals ever came to fruition and shed light on how fast he was spending his money. Expenditures compiled on his hard drive show he spent more than $200,000 per month from October 2017 through February 2018 on luxury hotel rooms, Porsche payments, dental work and cash withdrawals.
Hunter Biden has admitted to burning through cash to pay for drugs and partying with strangers who routinely stole from him, and he struggled to pay multiple mortgages or keep up with alimony and child support payments to his ex-wife. In his autobiography, “Beautiful Things,” he says the money from Burisma “turned into a major enabler during my steepest skid into addiction” and “hounded me to spend recklessly, dangerously, destructively. Humiliatingly. So I did.”
In a February 2017 divorce filing, an attorney for Hunter Biden's ex-wife said the couple’s outstanding debts were “shocking and overwhelming” and that they owed $313,000 in back taxes. According to the filing, they had bounced checks to their housekeeper and owed money to doctors and therapists. The filing alleged that Hunter Biden had spent copiously on drugs, strip clubs, prostitutes and girlfriends “while leaving the family with no money to pay legitimate bills.”
A representative for Hunter Biden says all of his tax responsibilities to the IRS are now satisfied. Two sources familiar with the matter have
JB Quinnon
