As the tax fraud investigation into Hunter Biden develops, author and investigative journalist Peter Schweizer believes the worst-case scenario for President Joe Biden is if the case goes to trial.
Schweizer, the best-selling author of “Clinton Cash,” which provides a deep dive into the Clinton family’s secretive financial dealings, spoke with The Daily Wire about the ongoing federal investigation into Biden’s son Hunter. The FBI and IRS are investigating Hunter for years of unpaid taxes, and his business dealings overseas, some of which took place while his father served as vice president.
“The question is: What is the Biden approach here?” Schweizer said. “Clearly, Hunter Biden has legal troubles. He owed back taxes. There’s going to probably be some legal consequence for that.”
Schweizer said that the outcome of the investigation may be less of a problem for the Biden family than what could come after: Hunter Biden being put on trial for tax fraud. President Biden will likely go to great lengths to keep any potential charges from heading to trial, Schweizer said.
“I think the nightmare scenario for the Biden family is that there is actually a trial. I fully expect that Hunter Biden is going to be indicted, but I think there’s going to be a very aggressive move by the Biden family and the Biden team to reach some sort of settlement agreement,” Schweizer said. “So maybe additional fines, maybe even jail time for Hunter Biden. But they do not want an extended trial because that would then introduce evidence and communications and information involving the president of the United States. And I think they want to avoid that at all costs.”
Since the opening of the investigation, over $2 million of Hunter’s back taxes have reportedly been paid off; however, not by him. According to The New York Post, his “sugar brother” Kevin Morris, a Hollywood lawyer, footed the bill.
The $2 million sum that is believed to have been paid off is more than twice the amount of tax liability that was originally reported. Schweizer said the misreporting could be a result of spin from sources close to the Bidens, and that the tax liability amount may still fluctuate because of the possibility of Hunter owing taxes on a number of business deals unknown to federal authorities.
“These are back taxes owed on income that the IRS knows about,” he told The Daily Wire. “There certainly were a lot of deals that the IRS is not completely aware of, so the tax liability may actually be higher. It’s just the IRS doesn’t actually know the full income that Hunter Biden was receiving at this time.”
On whether Hunter’s tax troubles may eventually implicate President Biden, Schweizer said that the outcome is unclear.
“Hunter Biden collected foreign funds, but he was also paying some of his father’s bills—some of his monthly bills, but also special payments like renovations on Joe Biden’s home in Delaware,” Schweizer said. “Now certainly you’re allowed to give gifts, but only to a certain threshold, and it seems that they cross that threshold.”
A laptop belonging to Hunter and left at a computer repair shop in April 2019 contained messages suggesting that President Biden has profited from business deals struck by his family members, including Hunter. In 2019, Hunter reportedly wrote in an email to his daughter Naomi that “Pop” had laid claim to half of his salary.
“I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years. It’s really hard. But don’t worry, unlike Pop, I won’t make you give me half your salary.”
Schweizer said that Biden may also owe back taxes on financial gifts he received from his son.
“There’s a very real possibility that Joe Biden has tax liabilities for the funds he received from Hunter Biden. But there’s no indication that is being looked at by this grand jury. And given that it involves a sitting president, I rather doubt that the Department of Justice is going to have any interest in looking into that matter,” Schweizer said.
More troubling than the allegations of tax fraud are the implications of striking deals with Chinese businessmen, Schweizer said. Hunter Biden pursued a number of deals in China, and entities he partly controlled received millions of dollars from the Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC and its executives.
“The bigger issue for me is who actually was providing the funds from overseas when it comes to China. You can look at the emails and you can identify the four businessmen that transferred millions of dollars to Hunter Biden,” Schweizer said. “They all have ties to the highest levels of Chinese intelligence, which makes this, in my mind, a serious national security question, not just a question of whether he paid taxes on that income. And I think that warrants further investigation.”
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.