Discussions have recently centered around possible charges that could include alleged tax violations and filing a false statement in connection with Biden’s purchase of a firearm at a time when he would be prohibited from doing so due to his acknowledged struggles with drug addiction. The investigation into the President’s son appears to loom large among the politically weighty issues facing Merrick Garland as attorney general. Weiss is one of a handful of former President Donald Trump’s appointees retained by the Biden administration for overseeing politically sensitive investigations. Adding to the pressure, Republicans in Congress have already announced that if they take over the House of Representatives after the midterm elections, they plan to launch new investigations and hold hearings to look into the conduct of Hunter Biden and others in the Biden family. Also potentially at play are Justice Department guidelines governing politically sensitive investigations during an election year. Current and former Justice Department officials say there is an unwritten rule that prosecutors avoid filing politically sensitive cases within 60 days of an election. Some current and former Justice officials have debated whether the rules necessarily apply in this case since Joe Biden is not on the ballot in the midterm elections. A lawyer for Hunter Biden declined to comment. The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware declined to comment. Hunter Biden has not been charged with any crime and has previously denied any wrongdoing. His father is not being investigated as part of the investigation into his son’s business activities, according to sources briefed on the matter.

Narrowing the focus

The Justice Department’s investigation initially focused on Hunter Biden’s financial and business activities in foreign countries dating back to Joe Biden’s time as vice president. But investigators looked into a range of broader conduct, including whether Hunter Biden and his associates violated money laundering, campaign finance, tax and foreign lobbying laws, and whether Hunter Biden violated federal firearms regulations and other regulations, multiple sources said. As the investigation has entered its final stages, prosecutors have narrowed their focus to tax and gun-related charges, the people say.
Court officials have debated the strength of the case for months and debated whether more work is needed before deciding on possible charges. Those discussions involved investigators from the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Agency and prosecutors in Delaware and at Justice Department headquarters, CNN previously reported. Hunter Biden has publicly discussed his own struggles with substance abuse, and some Justice officials have questioned whether his open discussions of past drug use could potentially weaken their case if brought. Some officials have noted that Biden could argue that he had no knowledge of wrongdoing because he was on drugs, a source said. CNN previously reported that some officials were concerned it could be a defense, but more recently, Justice officials have rallied around the view that Biden’s public accounts of his recovery show he was fully responsible for actions now under investigation. control, according to the known person. with the discussions. In the meetings, officials also discussed the timing of any potential prosecution, given the sensitivity of a politically connected case approaching an election, another person said. The Justice Department memos advise prosecutors not to bring cases or take any overt investigative measures with the intent to influence the election or provide an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate. Garland issued a memo in May to prosecutors reiterating the department’s stance on election-year sensitivities. The memo is one that attorneys general send out every election year and generally advises prosecutors to avoid making major investigative or indictive decisions near an election to avoid the perception of partisan motivation. In 2018, the final year of midterm congressional elections, prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan filed two politically sensitive cases in August: one against Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, and one against Chris Collins, then Republican congressman and precocious Trump. supporter who was up for re-election that year. In both cases, prosecutors made their charging decisions with the election in mind, people familiar with the cases said. Cohen pleaded guilty in August to campaign finance, tax and other charges and served three years in prison. Collins, who won re-election while under indictment, later pleaded guilty and resigned his seat. Collins was sentenced to 26 months in prison, but served only two months after being pardoned by former President Donald Trump. Trump Justice officials rejected a request by New York prosecutors to execute a search warrant on Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s personal lawyers, in the months surrounding the 2020 election. Biden’s Justice Department later green-lighted the investigation, which was approved by a federal judge.