Hunter Biden facing federal investigation over tax affairs
December 9, 2020
Hunter Biden said he is under investigation for potential tax violations. The president-elect's son has been a frequent target of Donald Trump and Republicans during the presidential election campaign.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
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US President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden said on Wednesday that he learned from federal prosecutors that the US Attorney's Office in Delaware is investigating his tax affairs.
"I learned yesterday for the first time that the US Attorney's Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs," Hunter Biden said in a statement.
"I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers," he said.
Biden Jr. released the statement through his father's presidential transition team.
"President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger," the transition team said in a statement.
President-elect Joe Biden has begun announcing Cabinet positions as he prepares to take over the White House. Most picks thus far served under President Barack Obama. The US Senate must confirm most of these nominees.
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Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
Blinken is a longtime confidant of President-elect Joe Biden. He's served under two Democratic presidents as well as a key aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also served as a deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of state in the second Obama administration, when Biden was vice president.
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General Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary
Austin was a controversial pick — his long career as a military officer requires a Congressional waiver before he can be confirmed. Austin held a series of prominent roles in the US Army and worked with Obama during the US withdrawal from Iraq. If successful, he would be the first Black Pentagon chief.
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Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary
Biden's nominee for the top position — the first woman ever if confirmed — goes some way towards fulfilling his promise to select a diverse cabinet. Yellen served on the policymaking committee of the Federal Reserve during the 2008 financial crisis and advised Bill Clinton. She would be taking the reigns during one of the worst economic crises in US history.
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Ron Klain, Chief of Staff
A veteran of Washington DC, Klain was an early pick for Biden. As White House chief of staff, he will work closely with the president, setting his agenda and coordinating the levers of power. Klain worked with Biden before when he was vice president as well as serving directly under former President Barack Obama as the Ebola Czar.
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Xavier Becerra, Health Secretary
The California Attorney General was picked to head up the health department under Biden's incoming cabinet during a global health crisis that has hit the US particularly hard. Becerra also helped in passing the Affordable Care Act when he sat in Congress. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Latino appointed to the role.
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John Kerry, climate change envoy
The former secretary of state will become Biden's special presidential envoy for climate. Kerry served as a senator from Massachusetts from 1983 to 2013 before taking the top foreign policy role in the second Obama administration. Kerry signed the Paris Climate Agreement for the United States in 2015 — Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord two years later.
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Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN
Thomas-Greenfield served in high-level State Department positions under Obama from 2013 to 2017. She led US policy in sub-Saharan African during the Ebola outbreak. Biden plans to restore the UN ambassador role to a White House Cabinet position.
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Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
The Cuban-American headed Citizenship and Immigration Services under Obama. He led the implementation of the DACA program that allowed so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the US illegally as children, to stay in the country. If confirmed, he would become the first immigrant and Hispanic to head the Department of Homeland Security.
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Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser
Sullivan served as Biden's national security adviser from 2013 to 2014 while he was vice president. He also served as Hillary Clinton's deputy when she was Secretary of State. He later served as her chief foreign policy adviser during her unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016.
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Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
Haines was the first woman to serve as deputy director of the CIA, a role she held from 2013 to 2015. She succeeded Antony Blinken as deputy national security adviser when he moved over to the state department in 2015. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to head the US intelligence community.
The investigation presents a major challenge to the incoming president who is currently putting together his cabinet.
He will also be announcing his pick for the next US Attorney General in the coming days who will have oversight in the investigation if it is still ongoing when Joe Biden enters office on January 20.
Alleged conflict of interest
During the 2020 election campaign, President Donald Trump frequently targeted his Democratic rival over his son's business dealing abroad, particularly those during Joe Biden's tenure as vice-president.
The president and his allies have accused Hunter Biden of profiting from his political connections.
Hunter had joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014, sparking concerns about a potential conflict of interest given that then Vice-President Biden was deeply involved in US policy toward Ukraine.
In September, two Republican-led Senate committees released a report claiming that Hunter Biden's board position with Burisma was "awkward," "problematic" and interfered with "efficient execution of policy" for the office of former US President Barack Obama.
The Senate investigation, however, did not identify any policies that were directly affected by Hunter Biden's work.
