EXPLAINED | Four-year-long Hunter Biden probe nears decision on pressing charges. What is the controversy?

As the United States is gearing up for the next year's presidential elections, the power tussle has also taken President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden into its fold. Biden's son is facing scrutiny on accusations of his involvement with tax, foreign lobbying and gun-related violations.

When did the investigation start?

Hunter Biden has been facing the wrath of the investigation since 2018, and2022 marked the fourth year of the probe, which is now nearing decision on pressing charges. Any negative outcome of the investigation can topple Biden's chances to keep holding his top seat at the Oval Office.

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As per sources with knowledge of the suspicious activity reports (SARs), a document that financial institutions are mandated to file with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), it was reported that the foreign transactions were from "China and other foreign nations," reported Fox News. FinCEN is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury that scrutinises suspicious transactions.

Hunter Biden's laptop

Hunter Biden's laptop controversy started in 2019 when his attorneys made a case levelling accusations on a computer repair shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac for having provided unauthorised access tohis laptop and making its contentpublic by sharing it with New York Post.

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The details were allegedly breached in the run up to the 2020 US presidential elections.

At the time, Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell wrote in a letter to Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, “This failed dirty political trick directly resulted in the exposure, exploitation, and manipulation of Mr. Biden’s private and personal information. Mr. Mac Isaac’s intentional, reckless, and unlawful conduct allowed for hundreds of gigabytes of Mr. Biden’s personal data, without any discretion, to be circulated around the Internet."

In his defence, Mac Isaac said that there was an agreement made between Biden and the computer repair shop owner that if no one comes to pick up the laptop it would automatically become Isaac’s property.

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Later, the FBI agents as part of their investigation into accusations against Hunter Biden served a subpoena and seized the laptop on December 9, 2019.

Alleged Trump involvement

The controversy also allegedly involves former US president Donald Trump. As per reports, Trump's former aide Garrett Ziegler posted emails and other documents from Hunter Biden's laptop on a public research website run by him.

A report by Politico indicates that Ziegler received the contents of the laptop through former New York City police commissioner Giuliani and his associate Bernard Kerik.

Hunter's argument on laptop controversy

Hunter Biden denied leaving his laptop to the computer repair shop. “Not that I remember at all,” Hunter Biden said while replying to a query whether he left the laptop at the shop.In an interview with CBS, Hunter Biden also said he has “no idea whether or not” the laptop belongs to him. In the latest, Hunter Biden accused the shop of trying to invade his privacy and trying to advance his political motives by making public his personal data, CNN reported citing new federal court filings.

Biden's attorney meets US Delaware Attorney David Weiss

Another controversy erupted when media reports suggested that US President Joe Biden's attorneys held meeting with US Delaware Attorney David Weiss in connection to the Hunter Biden investigation.

Usually, as per Washington Post, this kind of meeting takes place when the defence lawyers urge prosecutors to not go forward with the indictment in the ongoing case. The meeting could also have been done for any other requests such as reducing the charges.

Four-year long investigation nearing decision

As per sources cited by the Washington Post, the investigation is nearing decision on charges to be pressed. US Attorney General Merrick Garland assured Congress that politics will be set aside from the investigation into the Hunter Biden case. “I stand by my testimony, and I refer you to the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, who is in charge of this case and capable of making any decisions that he feels are appropriate," Garland told reporters.

Drug abuse allegations

Apart from the suspicious overseas transactions, Hunter Biden is also under radar over gun law violations as the investigators try to find out whether he lied on a form prior to purchasing a gun by denying that he was a drug abuser.

Democrats and Republicans have been at loggerheads over the Hunter Biden controversy. Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe claimed that the laptop, a centre of the lawsuit slugfest, was "not part of some Russian disinformation campaign."

However, this claim was rejected by Democrats and several others.

About two weeks ago, a special agent of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sought whistleblower protection for disclosing details on the mishandling of a criminal investigation in Hunter Biden case.

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