On Wednesday, special counsel David Weiss’ office issued a filing alleging that President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, had received “compensation” from a Romanian businessman who was hoping Hunter would help him “influence U.S. policy and public opinion,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) filing.
The filing explained that Weiss’ office plans to introduce evidence proving this allegation in Hunter Biden’s upcoming federal tax case, which is set to begin next month. The evidence includes a testimony from a business associate about Hunter’s relationship with the Romanian businessman, according to prosecutors.
NEW: In New Filing, Prosecutors Say Hunter Biden Accepted Payments to Influence U.S. Policy for Romanian Businessman
NOTE: Prosecutors say Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, took money from a Romanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu, who wanted to sway U.S. government… pic.twitter.com/AkyRa3Obar
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) August 8, 2024
Weiss’ office also used the filing to push for the court to reject Hunter Biden’s request to omit certain evidence, which the first son claims would prejudice the court against him.
“The evidence of what the defendant agreed to do and did do for [the businessman] demonstrates the defendant’s state of mind and intent during the relevant tax years charged in the indictment,” senior assistant special counsel Derek Hines wrote in the filing. “It is also evidence that the defendant’s actions do not reflect someone with a diminished capacity, given that he agreed to attempt to influence U.S. public policy and receive millions of dollars pursuant to an oral agreement.”
In fall 2015, Hunter Biden made an “oral agreement” with Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, identified as “G.P.,” who reportedly wanted to influence policy in the U.S., requesting that the government “investigate” the criminal probe he was facing in Romania, according to the filing.
Prosecutors allege that, because Hunter and Popoviciu were “concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications” for then-Vice President Joe Biden, the pair entered into “an arrangement that concealed the true nature of the work he was performing for G.P.” The agreement reportedly hid the true nature of the work by having a legal entity owned by Hunter’s associate “purportedly provide management services to real estate properties in Romania” — but “that was not actually what G.P. was paying for,” prosecutors wrote.
“In reality, Business Associate 1 and G.P. agreed that Business Associate 1 would receive compensation for work by Business Associate 1, the defendant, and Business Associate 2, to attempt to influence U.S. government agencies to investigate the Romanian investigation of G.P., and Business Associate 1 would pass approximately 1/3 to the defendant as his compensation and approximately 1/3 to Business Associate 2 as his compensation,” the document stated, explaining that Hunter Biden’s business associate received roughly $3,101,258 for the work between November 2015 and May 2017, which was then split three ways.
The tax fraud case against Hunter Biden involves nine federal charges, including accusations that he failed to pay over $1.4 million in taxes, failed to file taxes, evaded a tax assessment and filed a fraudulent tax form. Hunter reportedly received “substantial” amounts of income during this tax period, but rather than pay taxes, he “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle,” according to the indictment in the case. Prosecutors allege that the money was spent on strip clubs, luxury cars, escorts and other “personal expenses.”
The first day of trial is scheduled for September 5.
