The office of U.S. Attorney David Weiss says the inquiry into Hunter Biden remains active despite a plea deal.
“The investigation is ongoing,” a press release from Weiss’ team said Tuesday. The release announced Biden had been charged with two misdemeanor tax offenses and a felony firearm offense. The statement also said Biden, 53, agreed to plead guilty to the pair of tax charges and enter a pretrial diversion agreement for the gun violation at a proceeding to be scheduled by a U.S. district court judge.
As part of the arrangement, the Justice Department would recommend probation for the tax charges, sources told the Associated Press. The report also noted that if Biden sticks to the terms of the pretrial agreement related to the firearm offense, the case would likely be wiped from his record.
Biden’s attorney Chris Clark indicated that he believed the deal meant the years-long federal inquiry into his client had been resolved.
“With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved,” Clark said.
Soon after the plea agreement was announced, challengers quickly began to cry foul and GOP lawmakers pledged to continue their investigations into the Biden family.
An ongoing probe is certain to be thorn in the side of Hunter’s father, President Joe Biden, as he seeks re-election in 2024.
One possible area of continued inquiry could relate to foreign business dealings. Former Attorney General William Barr recently revealed that he referred an FBI informant’s claims about a $5 million bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden to Delaware for further investigation.
In his statement and in court documents, Weiss and his team explained the tax violations stem from Hunter Biden failing to pay the more than $100,000 in federal income taxes he owed for 2017 by the deadline after making “in excess of” $1.5 million in that calendar year. Prosecutors said Biden repeated that offense for calendar year 2018.
Sources told The New York Times last year that Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris lent Biden more than $2 million that went toward paying off his tax debts that were a subject of the federal investigation.
As for the gun charge, Weiss said October 2018 information shows that Biden possessed a firearm “despite knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance.”
The arraignment ironed out between the two parties still needs to be judge-approved.
If Biden were to be convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges and up to 10 years in prison on the firearm charge, Weiss said.