A long-awaited special counsel report on Hunter Biden's tax and firearm case sparks controversy amid President Biden's surprising pardon.
According to Fox News, House Oversight Chairman James Comer has criticized Special Counsel David Weiss' final report as "incomplete," claiming that President Biden's sweeping pardon of his son has prevented a thorough investigation into the Biden family's alleged influence-peddling schemes.
The Department of Justice released the 27-page report to Congress on Monday evening, detailing a six-year investigation into Hunter Biden's tax evasion and illegal firearm possession. The investigation resulted in Hunter Biden's conviction on three felony firearm offenses and a guilty plea regarding his failure to pay over $1.4 million in taxes across four years.
Special Counsel Report Reveals Details About Hunter Biden's Business Dealings
The report specifically addressed Hunter Biden's financial activities between 2016 and 2020, during which he earned more than $7 million in total gross income. Special Counsel Weiss emphasized that Hunter Biden's drug addiction could not explain his deliberate failure to pay taxes on income earned through his family connections.
The investigation found that Hunter Biden received substantial payments for limited work, including a board seat at Ukrainian company Burisma Holdings Limited and ventures with Chinese energy conglomerate associates.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who previously criticized the investigation, expressed their disappointment with the Weiss report. Through their legal representatives at Empower Oversight, they stated:
The Weiss report leaves too many questions unanswered, and the American people deserve answers. DOJ, FBI, and IRS leadership should have done the right thing from the beginning. We should not have had to risk our careers to end the preferential treatment being given to the President's son.
The whistleblowers continue to face retaliation for their role in exposing alleged preferential treatment in the Hunter Biden investigation, according to their statement.
Presidential Pardon Draws Criticism From Special Counsel
President Biden's decision to pardon his son marked a significant reversal from his previous stance. The pardon, issued last month, covers any offenses against the United States that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" between January 2014 and December 2024.
Special Counsel Weiss strongly objected to President Biden's characterization of the prosecutions as "selective" and "unfair." The report argues that such statements undermining career prosecutors damage public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Weiss emphasized that while other presidents have pardoned family members, none have used the opportunity to criticize Department of Justice personnel based on unfounded accusations.
Legal Team Response Highlights Investigation Controversies
Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, responded to the report by questioning several aspects of the investigation.
Lowell pointed out that Weiss failed to explain why he abandoned an earlier proposal to resolve the case with misdemeanors and a diverted gun charge. The attorney also criticized the investigation's pursuit of what he called "wild and debunked conspiracies" that extended the probe and increased taxpayer costs.
The investigation revealed that Hunter Biden spent millions on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax obligations. Despite having access to funds, he willfully failed to pay taxes from 2016 to 2019. Notably, the report highlighted that Hunter Biden filed a false 2018 tax return in February 2020, eight months after achieving sobriety, deliberately underreporting his income to reduce his tax liability.
Moving Forward Amid Mounting Political Tensions
The release of Special Counsel David Weiss' report has intensified the ongoing controversy surrounding Hunter Biden's legal troubles and his father's presidential pardon. The report's findings detail Hunter Biden's failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes despite earning over $7 million through various business dealings leveraging his family name.
