BARRED FROM ENTRY
ATTORNEY General William Barr reportedly went further than previously known to prevent authorities from revealing the existence of federal tax investigations into Hunter Biden before the election.
Barr and senior Justice Department officials specifically asked prosecutors if their staff members could be trusted and warned them against issuing subpoenas or taking other public investigative steps before the election, the reports.
7
The attorney general issued the directive because he wanted to keep the Justice Department out of campaign politics, in accordance with longstanding department guidelines that prohibit activity that could influence a political race.
Hunter is also implicated in a broader international financial investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, two people familiar with the case told the Journal.
That probe has been going on for at least a year. Hunter, however, was never a specific target for a criminal prosecution, according to the report.
7
Earlier this month, confirmed he was the subject of a federal probe by the DoJ, which has been looking into his tax affairs since 2018. Hunter has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with criminal activity.
But US President Donald Trump - who invested significant time into creating suspicion around Hunter's business dealings in the weeks before the election - has been left fuming. At one point, he had asked the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate the younger Biden.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” that aired Sunday morning, Trump blasted Barr for keeping the investigations under wraps.
“Joe Biden lied on the debate stage, he said there’s nothing happening, nothing happening, and Bill Barr should have stepped up,” the president said.
“All he had to do is say an investigation is going on.”
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany defended Trump on Monday over his criticism of Barr for failing to inform Congress that Hunter had been under investigation by the Justice Department during the 2020 presidential election campaign.
“(Trump is) frustrated. He’s very public about it, and the country was misled unfortunately by a number of news outlets, saying that this was a fact-free conspiracy theory. I was right there with the president when he was interviewing with ’60 Minutes’ Leslie Stahl where she wouldn’t even let him speak on the Hunter Biden scandal. … All along the facts were there, it was ignored and it’s unfortunate that the attorney general didn’t come out,” McEnany said.
7
It recently emerged that, in addition to alleged tax violations, feds in Delaware and Washington were looking into money laundering claims and Biden Jr's foreign dealings, a source told .
And the reports that the probe involves a laptop owned by Hunter which contains documents detailing his dealings in China and Ukraine.
The FBI is also looking into transactions with foreigners who posed counterintelligence concerns, reports.
This comes a year after federal agents seized a laptop from a Delaware computer repair shop whose owner claims it was left there by Hunter.
Federal authorities in Pennsylvania have also launched a criminal probe into a hospital business in which Joe Biden's brother James was involved, another source told Politico.
7
In September, Republicans alleged Joe Biden's relatives "were involved in a vast financial network" connected to "foreign governments."
The latest reports concerning the President-elect's family comes just over a month before he is set to enter the White House.
Joe Biden denies any involvement in his son's business dealings.
In a statement earlier this month, said the US Attorney's office in Delaware told his lawyers that his "tax affairs" would be subject to a probe.
"I take this matter very seriously," he said.
"I am also 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 advisors."
The investigation is reportedly part of a Grand Jury probe that names him as a "subject/target" - with "target" usually being used when there is a "high probability that person committed a crime", a source told .
7
7
"Suspicious Activity Reports" were allegedly filed against Hunter regarding foreign transactions "from China and other foreign nations", the source added.
Hunter's statement also included a response from his father's 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," it read.
The last part of this statement would appear to be a reference to the "Ukraine, crack, and sex" previously published by the New York Post and reports about his business dealings in .
7
The probe reportedly began in 2018, before took over the role in 2019, two sources who were briefed on the matter told CNN.
Federal prosecutors in Delaware, the IRS Criminal Investigation agency and the , are now issuing subpoenas and seeking interviews, the report says.
Due to Justice Department guidelines prohibiting overt actions that could influence an election, the investigation was put on hold for the past few months.
Most read in News
Meanwhile, lawyer previously leaked the contents of the laptop seized by the FBI, according to the computer repairman who tipped off the Republicans.
In October, a copy of the MacBook's hard drive contained a 2015 email that showed Hunter introduced Joe, then vice president, to a top exec at Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, the Post reported.
At the time, Biden's Jr was was a board member at Burisma earning a reported $83,000 a month.
And according to docs released by Senate Republicans, Hunter started working on securing a deal with CEFC China Energy to invest in US energy projects in 2017.
A person who was briefed on the probe told CNN one incident that is being looked into is the company's founder and ex-chairman Ye Jianming giving Hunter a 2.8-carat diamond after their Miami meeting.
Hunter admitted to that receiving the gift felt "weird" and he felt uncomfortable accepting it as he detailed his struggles with substance addiction.
Read More on The Sun
It's unclear if the enormous diamond is part of the ongoing investigation.
A message was also reportedly sent to Hunter's ex-business partner in June 2017 in China.
Trump again blasts Bill Barr and says he should have set record straight on Hunter Biden probe before election
Topics