US President Joe Biden, for the first time, publicly addressed possible charges against his son. Hunter Biden is once again the subject of scrutiny since federal prosecutors reportedly said they have gathered evidence to charge him with tax crimes, along with providing false information in order to purchase a gun.
“First of all, I’m proud of my son,” he said. “This is a kid who–not a kid, a grown man… He got hooked on, like many families have had happened, hooked on drugs. He’s overcome that. He’s established a new life.”
The President went on to talk about how Hunter wrote a book about his problems, and that he was straightforward about it. “I’m proud of him.”
Federal investigators, who have been looking into the president’s son since 2018, were initially focused on his business dealings overseas.
The probe later expanded to include tax evasion and whether he lied on a form to buy a gun in 2018.
Speaking in an exclusive with CNN Tonight’s Jake Tapper, President Biden addressed the last issue. “This thing about a gun, I didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “Turns out when he made… [an] application to purchase a gun, what happened was, he… I guess, you get asked… I don’t guess, you get asked the question, ‘Are you on drugs? Did you use drugs?’ He said no, and he wrote about saying no in his book.”
The president adds, “I have great confidence in my son. I love him, and he’s on a straight and narrow and has been for a couple of years now, and I’m just so proud of him.”
In an interview with Anderson Cooper, The Washington Post’s National Security Reporter Devlin Barrett said federal investigators spent months investigating Hunter Biden, and they believed they have a “chargeable case.” However, the end decision to charge falls on Delaware US Attorney David Weiss.
There is no comment yet from Hunter Biden or his lawyers.
President Biden told Tapper that his focus was on the November congressional midterm elections. After the contests are over, there is a possibility that the Republicans could take control of Congress.
House Republicans are determined to investigate the president’s son if they win back the House in the midterm elections.
Asked about the possibility of running for reelection and whether he could be the only one to defeat Trump, Biden answered, “I believe I can beat Donald Trump again.”