Joe Biden is refusing to discuss the legal troubles of his son amid revelations that the Department of Justice is investigating the younger Biden’s “tax affairs.”
Biden, who has been declared president-elect by numerous media outlets, was asked after a press conference on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware, if his son, Hunter, “committed a crime.” The question was in regards to Hunter Biden’s recent admission that he had been informed by the United States Attorney of Delaware that there was an open investigation into his “tax affairs.”
Despite the topic dominating the news cycle in recent days, the former vice president refused to comment on the situation.
“I’m proud of my son,” Biden said, repeating a line he has employed since the story first broke.
While the exact nature of the U.S. Attorney investigation remains unclear, the revelations come more than a month after Fox News reported that Hunter Biden’s laptop had been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a money laundering probe.
The younger Biden has faced questions for some time over his business dealings. In September the Senate Finance and Homeland Security Committees released an extensive report detailing numerous instances in which Hunter Biden’s business dealings appeared to overlap with his father’s political influence.
Senate Republicans have pledged to continue investigating the matter once the new Congress opens session in January. Of particular interest for some congressional watchdogs are allegations, first reported by Breitbart News in October, that a top official from a Chinese energy firm offered to provide the Biden “family” a $5 million non-secured, forgivable loan.
The offer was discussed in an email sent to SinoHawk Holdings CEO Tony Bobulinski, a one-time business partner of Hunter Biden. Bobulinski has since begun cooperating with both congressional investigators and federal law enforcement on the topic.