US Department of Justice launches probe into Hunter Biden's ‘tax affairs’ amid calls for ‘special counsel’

US prosecutors have revealed that they're probing Hunter Biden's taxes, leading to more calls for a special counsel to be appointed to avoid a situation in which the president's son is being investigated by his own administration.

The son of nominal President-elect Joe Biden issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the US Attorney's Office in his home state of Delaware notified his lawyers that "they are investigating my tax affairs."

He added that he expects a "professional and objective review" to demonstrate that he handled his taxes legally and appropriately with the help of professional advisers.

"This is why Attorney General [William] Barr needs to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden," US Representative Ken Buck (R-Colorado) said on Twitter. "It would be wildly inappropriate if his dad's AG was involved in this matter."

Earlier this week, Buck had already called for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings to ensure that foreign governments aren't able to use blackmail to influence US policies if Joe Biden takes office in January. Media outlets have declared Joe Biden winner of the presidential election, but incumbent Donald Trump is challenging the results in court, alleging massive fraud.

By appointing a special counsel who could operate independently, the government would avoid having the investigation done through the Department of Justice, which would become part of the Biden administration. Trump demanded in October that Barr open an investigation of Hunter Biden after reports by the New York Post alleged that the Biden family profited from the peddling of political influence in Ukraine and China.

Joe Biden's transition team issued a statement on the tax investigation, suggesting that his son was a victim. "President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger," the transition team said. Hunter Biden's own statement also was issued through the transition team.

Allegations against the younger Biden got only limited exposure because the influence-peddling reports were censored on social media and largely ignored by the mainstream media. "CNN viewers have no idea why Hunter Biden would be under investigation," conservative journalist Jack Posobiec tweeted. Meanwhile, Breitbart News editor Joel Pollak questioned whether Facebook and Twitter will try to suppress the news that Hunter Biden's taxes are under investigation. "It might be Russian disinformation," he quipped. "There's no evidence of that, but there wasn't last time, either."

Veteran journalist James Rosen reported in late October that the FBI had begun an investigation of alleged money laundering by Hunter Biden and his business associates in 2019. Republican political strategist Andrew Surabian pointed out that, like the influence-peddling reports, the money-laundering allegations were ignored by mainstream media outlets.

Law professor Jonathan Turley said he found it "curious" that Hunter Biden said he first learned of the investigation on Tuesday, given that the laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop had been subpoenaed by the FBI in 2019. "Many of us discussed the 2019 subpoena in the case for his laptop as an obvious indicator of a criminal investigation."

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