HUNTER BIDEN’S TAXES UNDER SCRUTINY

President- elect’s son has learned of a U. S. inquiry begun in 2018. His China dealings are part of investigation.

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Justice Department’s investigation scrutinizing Hunter Biden’s taxes has been examining some of his Chinese business dealings, among other financial transactions, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

The investigation was launched in 2018, a year before his father, Joe Biden, announced his candidacy for president, but it is unclear which entities might be tied up in the inquiry. The investigation was not disclosed to Hunter Biden until Tuesday.

The younger Biden has a history of business dealings in a number of countries, and the revelation of a federal investigation puts a renewed spotlight on the questions about his f inancial dealings that dogged his father’s successful White House campaign.

Federal investigators served a round of subpoenas Tuesday, including one for Hunter Biden, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity in discussing an ongoing inquiry. The tax investigation centers on his business dealings, the person said.

Investigators did not reach out in the weeks before the election because of a Justice Department policy surrounding elections that prohibits overt investigative acts, one of the people said.

In a statement released by the president- elect’s transition office, Hunter Biden said he learned about the investigation Tuesday, but he did not disclose specifics about what was being scrutinized.

“I take this matter very seriously but I am 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,” he said in a statement.

He has long been a target of President Trump and his allies, who have accused him of profiting off his political connections.

Trump and his supporters also raised unsubstantiated charges of corruption related to Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine at the time his father was vice president and leading the Obama administration’s dealings with the Eastern European nation.

The disclosure of the federal investigation, led by the U. S. attorney’s office in Delaware, comes at an awkward moment for the incoming president. His pick for attorney general could have oversight of the inquiry into the new president’s son if it is still ongoing when Joe Biden is sworn in Jan. 20.