NATIONAL NEWS

Federal investigation of Hunter Biden nears critical juncture

Jul 27, 2022, 4:59 PM | Updated: 5:16 pm

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 18: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, attends the Easter Egg Ro...

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 18: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, attends the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Easter Egg Roll tradition returns this year after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(CNN) — In the Fall of 2018, Hunter Biden received a quick succession of emails from his accountant: They were all about his taxes.

“They are late,” Bill Morgan told his client in October, noting that Biden had missed an already extended deadline of October 15.

“Your 2017 tax returns are still unfiled,” the accountant reminded Biden two weeks later.

“You need to get 2017 filed so we can try to work out a payment schedule,” he added the following day.

Morgan also noted in that email that Biden’s assistant had sent him a copy of an IRS notice from 2015. “They want $158,000,” the accountant wrote. “IRS has notified the State Department and they will not renew your passport until this is resolved.”

Welcome to the dysfunctional world of Hunter Biden’s finances. While the general topic of the President’s son’s financial troubles has been widely reported, the details surrounding his past filings may offer a glimpse into some of the areas federal investigators are delving into as part of an ongoing probe into possible tax violations and other crimes that is nearing a critical juncture. Prosecutors, sources say, could make a decision soon on whether to file criminal charges against the President’s son.

Hunter Biden’s legal jeopardy has been leveraged by Republicans seeking to accuse his father, President Joe Biden, of being complicit in his alleged wrongdoing. Republicans expect, should they regain control of the House, to investigate the Biden family through committees they will control.

Biden has denied any wrongdoing and has said he has cooperated with investigators. His father is not implicated in the ongoing federal investigation, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

CNN hired a cyber forensics expert to help authenticate a cache of emails related to Hunter Biden’s finances that were posted on the internet by a former Trump White House aide and allegedly traced back to a laptop that turned up at a Delaware repair shop.

Information from the laptop has fueled countless stories about Biden’s drug abuse, alleged sexual indiscretions and money trouble, many of which CNN — and other media outlets — have not been able to verify. Biden has not directly commented on the authenticity of the emails or the stories upon which they are based. He told CBS News last year he did not know if that laptop was his.

Jake Williams, a former National Security Agency operative, who analyzed the emails for CNN, said he was able to authenticate a subset of the emails because they contained verified signatures within their metadata that showed they had not been modified. Only emails he authenticated are cited in this report.

Williams, who previously examined data from the laptop for The Washington Post, said the majority of emails he reviewed for CNN could not be verified because they lacked sufficient technical data necessary for the validation process, among other reasons.

CNN’s review of emails showed that Biden struggled with tax issues for years and that his accountant at times seemed at a loss to keep track of the flow of Biden’s money. In one email, his accountant raised a question about a $550,000 receipt, asking whether it should be recorded as a loan or income from Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company on whose board Biden served. No response from Biden is shown on that email chain.

Biden received as much as $50,000 a month for serving on Burisma’s board from 2014 to 2019, according to a Republican-led Senate report on his business activities.

Despite that lavish income, Biden’s debts piled up, even as he received repeated warnings from his bank, his accountant and others.

“Insufficient funds,” read an automated Wells Fargo email Biden received in December 2018 that stated one of his accounts lacked $1,700 for payment on a Porsche. Other bank alerts that year warned that Biden’s checking account had a “low balance” and that one of his credit cards had risen above its “pre-set amount” of $65,000.

Attempted charges to another credit card were repeatedly declined due to deficient funds, multiple emails in 2018 and 2019 show.

“I am trying to figure out what to do about bills,” Biden’s then-assistant emailed him on December 28, 2018. She listed a series of payments Biden owed, including health insurance, a car payment and her salary.

“Pay the health care. Pay the Porsche,” Biden responded, though he said she should pay herself half of the salary she said she was owed. Biden also complained that someone else was still getting a cut of what he said he was personally owed by Burisma. “So there’s not much income coming through these days,” he told her.

By March 2019, Biden’s bills, debts and back taxes totaled more than half a million dollars, according to another email from his assistant.

“Please let me know if there is a new plan for paying these bills,” the assistant wrote to him in that message, noting he still owed about $370,000 worth of taxes and $120,000 in other bank debt.

Biden’s assistant did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark, said his client has now “fully paid” his IRS tax debts. Clark added that 2018 and 2019 were difficult times for Biden, who struggled with alcohol and drug addiction after the death of his brother Beau. It is unclear how far back prosecutors may be looking into Biden’s tax woes, which according to the emails, date as far back as 2015 and continued into 2019.

“He is current on his tax obligations and is committed to remaining so as he continues his recovery from addiction,” Clark said.

During some of the same months that Biden’s accountant messaged him about taxes owed, Biden made large cash withdrawals, emails show. He withdrew about $4,800 from ATMs in roughly two weeks in October 2018, for example.

Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, wrote a recent memoir chronicling the rockiness of the couple’s finances when they were married. “More than once my debit card was declined at a store. I’d have to call Hunter to transfer money into my account,” she wrote in her memoir published earlier this year. “Hunter and I drove nice cars and had a beautiful home, but we were running fast on that hamster wheel and barely staying on.”

In 2018, Buhle wrote to Morgan, the accountant, who has since died, seeking advice about an IRS tax lien based on an unpaid bill of $112,805.

Buhle said she was at “a loss” and asked Morgan to “Please advise.”

In his own book, “Beautiful Things,” published last year, Hunter Biden wrote candidly about his addictions. He told NPR he wrote the book to give hope to others who have struggled with substance abuse. He shared that paychecks he received for sitting on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma provided him with cash for crack cocaine.

“But by that mad, bad end, the board fee had morphed into a wicked sort of funny money,” Biden wrote. “It hounded me to spend recklessly, dangerously, destructively. Humiliatingly. So I did.”

He was continuing to make amends, “both figurative and literal,” he wrote. “I still have a ton of work to do on myself, with my addiction, and clearing the wreckage of my past.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

KSL 5 TV Live

National News

Five suspects in the Memorial Day shooting that injured nine people near South Florida’s bustling...

Jamiel Lynch and Nouran Salahieh

5 suspects arrested in the Florida shooting on Hollywood Beach that injured 9

Five suspects in the Memorial Day shooting that injured nine people near South Florida’s bustling Hollywood Beach Broadwalk are now in custody, police announced Monday.

23 hours ago

This rendering shows how scientists think the Psyche asteroid appears up close. (MaxarASU/P. Rubin/...

Ashley Strickland

NASA’s Psyche mission will launch to an unexplored metal world this fall

A NASA mission to explore a metallic asteroid is set to launch in October after software issues caused an initial delay that prevented the spacecraft from lifting off in 2022.

23 hours ago

FILE - California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramen...

Tran Nguyen and Olga R. Rodriguez

California officials blast Florida’s DeSantis over transfer of migrants from Texas to Sacramento

California leaders have lashed out at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and hinted at a criminal investigation over the arrival of two flights of migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas and then were sent to Sacramento.

23 hours ago

FILE - Semi-automatic handguns are displayed at shop in New Castle, Pa., March 25, 2020. A federal ...

Claire Rush

Permit-to-purchase: Oregon’s tough new gun law faces federal court test

The federal trial over Oregon's voter-approved gun control measure started Monday in Portland.

23 hours ago

Police lights...

Betty Yu

Thieves steal $100,000 in cigarettes, cash from California smoke shop

Family-owned small business Cigarettes R Cheaper suffered its biggest hit last month in its long history in San Francisco.

23 hours ago

FILE - Sections of a USA Today newspaper are displayed Aug. 5, 2019, in Norwood, Mass. Journalists ...

Alexandra Olson

Hundreds of journalists strike, demanding leadership change at biggest US newspaper chain

Journalists at two dozen local newspapers across the U.S. walked off the job Monday to demand an end to painful cost-cutting measures and a change of leadership at Gannett, the country’s biggest newspaper chain

23 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Brunette guy in headphones playing games on his desktop computer...

PC Laptops

Looking For a New Computer? Use This Desktop Buying Guide

Choosing a new desktop computer can come with a lot of questions, so we created this desktop buying guide.

Portrait of happy boy playing and splashing water in the swimming pool...

Get Out Pass

Family Fun Activities in Utah You Have to Try This Summer

These family fun activities will entertain you all summer, so if you ever feel stuck in a rut wondering what to do, refer to this guide!

Woman IT specialist in elegant suit working on notebook computer in data center next to server rack...

Les Olson

Your Complete Guide to Outsourcing IT Services

This guide covers everything you need to know about the different benefits of outsourcing IT services to meet your small business needs.

diverse group of friends dance outside under string lights...

Lighting Design

5 Frequently Asked Questions About Outdoor Lighting

Read for the most frequently asked questions about outdoor lighting to help narrow the search for your home.

Stack of old laptops with dark background...

PC Laptops

Old Laptop Upgrades You Need to Try Before Throwing it Away

Get the most out of your investment. Try these old laptop upgrades before throwing it out to keep it running fast and efficient.

Happy diverse college or university students are having fun on their graduation day...

BYU MBA at the Marriott School of Business

How to Choose What MBA Program is Right for You: Take this Quiz Before You Apply!

Wondering what MBA program is right for you? Take this quiz before you apply to see if it will help you meet your goals.

Federal investigation of Hunter Biden nears critical juncture