Guns, tax evasion and deals with China: A timeline of Hunter Biden’s troubled life and legal nightmares
Hunter Biden faces nine new charges, all related to tax evasion, and will face a Trump-appointed judge as his case goes to trial. The president’s son is no stranger to scandal: Hunter has a long and complex history of legal nightmares. From gun charges to paternity battles to international financial fraud to sobriety lies, here’s a timeline of Hunter Biden’s legal history.
Hunter Biden faces nine new charges – all related to tax evasion – and will appear before a Trump-appointed judge as his case goes to trial.
1970
Hunter Biden was born on February 4 in Wilmington, Delaware, to Neilia and Joe Biden.
1972
On December 18, 1972, Hunter’s mother and younger sister Naomi died tragically in a car accident. Hunter and his older brother Beau were also in the car during the incident but survived with serious injuries. Beau suffered multiple broken bones, and Hunter suffered a skull fracture and severe traumatic brain injury.
1992
In 1992, Hunter Biden graduated from Georgetown University in Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.
1993
Hunter Biden married Kathleen Boulet in 1993.
1996
Hunter completed a year of law school at Georgetown and then transferred to Yale University and received his law degree in 1996.
Hunter Biden has a long and complicated history of legal nightmares
According to his memoir, Beautiful Things, Hunter began drinking heavily in the early 2000s at dinner, at parties and after work.
Early 2000s
According to his memoir, Beautiful Things, Hunter began drinking heavily in the early 2000s at dinner, at parties and after work. He believes his substance abuse problems stem from the losses he faced in life and the fact that his family didn’t talk much about the tragic deaths of his mother and sister.
During this time, Hunter worked at Oldaker, Biden & Belair, a law and lobbying firm of which he became a partner in 2001.
2008
Joe Biden was announced as Obama’s running mate in the 2008 election, and in September the Obama presidential campaign released a statement saying that Biden’s son (Hunter) had stopped working as a lobbyist in Washington.
2013
Hunter Biden and two other Americans have teamed up with Chinese businessmen to found an investment company in Shanghai – BHR Partners.
The firm helped finance an Australian coal mining company controlled by a Chinese state-owned firm.
The first anniversary of Beau’s death left Hunter struggling with severe depression, which led to crack cocaine use and addiction.
In 2014, Hunter was discharged from the Navy Reserve after taking a drug test that tested positive for cocaine use.
year 2014
In 2014, Hunter was discharged from the Navy Reserve after taking a drug test that came back positive for cocaine use.
He served less than a year as a public affairs officer in the Navy Reserve before being discharged in February.
In a statement released by his lawyer, Biden said he respects the Navy’s decision and moves forward with the love and support of his family.
In a statement released by his lawyer, Biden said he respects the Navy’s decision and moves forward with the love and support of his family. He did not give a reason for his dismissal.
Later that year, Hunter joined the board of directors of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas producer, while his father oversaw U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine. The business move has been the focus of skepticism from critics.
It turned out that Hunter earned more than $800 thousand in 2013 and more than $1.2 million in 2014 from working with a Ukrainian energy company.
The Biden family suffered another tragic loss on May 30, 2015, when Joe Biden’s eldest son Beau died of brain cancer at age 46.
After his brother’s death, Hunter relapsed into alcoholism after a period of sobriety.
Hunter Biden and Kathleen Boulet divorced after 24 years of marriage and the birth of three daughters. In 2022, Boulet released a memoir, If We Break, in which she detailed her relationship.
2016
The first anniversary of Beau’s death left Hunter struggling with severe depression, which led to cocaine use and addiction.
2017
Hunter Biden and Kathleen Boulet divorced after 24 years of marriage and the birth of three daughters. In 2022, Boulet released a memoir, If We Break, detailing her relationship.
In March of that year, celebrity gossip site PageSix.com reported that Hunter and his brother Beau’s widow, Holly Biden, were romantically involved with each other.
2018
Hunter’s fourth child, Navy Joan Roberts, was born in 2018 to Landen Roberts of Arkansas. He claims to have no memory of Roberts or their relationship, claiming that after the divorce he “went on a rampage” with women. A paternity test proved that Hunter was indeed the child’s father.
In October 2018, Hunter purchased a .38-caliber pistol from StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.
About two weeks later, his lover and brother’s widow, Holly Biden, found him “unlocked” in her truck and threw him in a grocery store dumpster. Its discovery sparked a police investigation, although local police never brought any charges.
Hunter wrote in a firearms transaction report that he did not use illegal drugs, but admitted in his memoir that he was a drug addict at the time. Lying on a federal form is a criminal offense.
2019
Hunter left a damaged Apple computer at a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware in April 2019. The computer was described as containing “disturbing” and “disconcerting” material.
Business owner John Paul Mac Isaac said he copied the contents of the computer and alerted the FBI to what he saw.
In October 2019, Hunter announced he was leaving BHR as his father, who had previously announced his presidential campaign, continued to face attacks over his son’s business.
2020
In the final weeks of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, he falsely claimed that “my son made no money” in China and that “the only guy who made money in China was this guy,” referring to Trump.
In December 2020, Hunter revealed that he was under investigation by the Justice Department as he was being probed for potential criminal violations of tax and money laundering laws.
In October 2019, Hunter announced he was leaving BHR as his father, who had previously announced his presidential campaign, continued to face attacks over his son’s business.
2023
In June 2023, Hunter agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failure to pay taxes for 2017 and 2018. He has reached an agreement with prosecutors in which he will plead guilty to tax crimes and be cleared of firearms charges but will likely avoid prison time, according to new Justice Department documents.
A month later, Hunter’s previous business partner Devon Archer told Congress behind closed doors that President Biden had been communicating with his son’s international business associates for more than a decade.
Because of Archer’s high-profile revelation, a federal judge in Delaware suspended a proposed guilty plea that would have settled Hunter’s tax and gun charges.
In September of this year, Special Prosecutor David K. Weiss said he planned to charge Hunter Biden with firearms charges by the end of the month.
That same month, Kevin McCarthy launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden based on his knowledge of Hunter’s international business dealings and accused the president of giving his son “special treatment” in a criminal tax investigation.
On Sept. 14, federal prosecutors charged Hunter with lying about his drug use in connection with a firearm in 2018.
On December 7, the Department of Justice filed nine new charges against Hunter Biden.
Judge Mark Scarsi, a Trump appointee, will oversee Hunter Biden’s tax evasion case. which alleges that Hunter participated in a four-year, $1.4 million tax evasion scheme.
All nine charges are tax-related, including two felony charges of filing a false return, a felony charge of tax evasion, four charges of failure to pay taxes and two more charges of failure to file a tax return. The collections cover the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax years.