Joe and Hunter Biden: Business dealings, criminal cases and a pardon
Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings and drug use brought scrutiny to his father, Joe Biden. The record includes millions in business payments, firearm and tax convictions, and a presidential pardon that prevented sentencing. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Hunter served on Burisma’s board from 2014 to 2019, receiving approximately $1 million in 2016 alone. A venture involving Chinese energy interests transferred another $3.545 million to his company in 2017 and 2018, some subsequently paid to another associate. Former partner Devon Archer recalled about 20 calls with Joe Biden around business contacts but said he witnessed no discussions of specific financial arrangements or requests for official action. [1] [5]
Hunter was discharged from the Navy Reserve in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. A jury convicted him in June 2024 of three firearm offenses involving a 2018 gun purchase and false statements about his drug use. That September, he pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses involving at least $1.4 million in unpaid taxes, filing failures and false returns. Neither prosecution charged his father. [6] [2] [3]
Laptop data introduced at the gun trial documented Hunter’s drug use. A CBS-commissioned forensic review found no tampering in the copy examined. Separately, former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov admitted fabricating claims that Burisma bribed both Bidens and received a six-year sentence. [7] [8] [9]
Republicans conducted at least two major congressional inquiries, reported in 2020 and 2024; their combined cost remains unverified. Rep. James Comer raised national security concerns about Biden-family dealings but later defended Trump’s business activity as public, identifying concealment or missing disclosures as possible grounds for scrutiny. [10] [11] [12] [13]
On Dec. 1, 2024, Joe Biden pardoned his son for federal offenses committed or potentially committed since Jan. 1, 2014. He said Hunter had been unfairly targeted because of their relationship. The pardon ended the prosecutions before sentencing, leaving a record of Hunter’s established offenses and his father’s decision to shield him from federal punishment for the covered conduct. [4] [14]
Sources and records
- United States v. Biden, No. 2:23-cr-00599-MCS, Indictment, document 1, paragraphs 6 and 13–14 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 7, 2023). Burisma compensation and Hudson West III transfers. The company-transfer total is $1.445 million for 2017 plus $2.1 million for 2018; onward payments are distinguished from personal receipts.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Robert Hunter Biden Found Guilty of Three Felonies Related to the Illegal Purchase of a Firearm (June 11, 2024).
- U.S. Department of Justice, Robert Hunter Biden Convicted on Three Felony Tax Offenses and Six Misdemeanor Tax Offenses (Sept. 5, 2024).
- Joseph R. Biden Jr., Executive Grant of Clemency—Robert Hunter Biden (Dec. 1, 2024), reproduced by the American Presidency Project.
- U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Transcribed Interview of Devon Archer, pp. 51–52, 124 and 127 (July 31, 2023).
- Luis Martinez and Arlette Saenz, Joe Biden’s Son Hunter Biden Discharged From Navy After Positive Cocaine Test, ABC News (Oct. 16, 2014).
- ABC News, 4 Big Takeaways From 1st Day of Testimony in Hunter Biden’s Gun Trial (June 4, 2024), laptop evidence and FBI testimony.
- Catherine Herridge and Graham Kates, Copy of What’s Believed to Be Hunter Biden’s Laptop Data Turned Over by Repair Shop to FBI Showed No Tampering, Analysis Says, CBS News (Nov. 21, 2022).
- Reuters, Ex-FBI Informant Who Fabricated Claims About Bidens Sentenced to 6 Years (Jan. 8, 2025).
- U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Finance Committee, Johnson, Grassley Release Report on Conflicts-of-Interest Investigation (Sept. 23, 2020).
- U.S. House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means, Report of the Impeachment Inquiry of Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States (Aug. 19, 2024).
- Rep. James Comer, Comer Widens Investigation Into Biden’s Involvement in His Family’s Business Schemes (Feb. 9, 2023).
- CNN, The Situation Room, Interview With Rep. James Comer, segment beginning at 11:15 a.m. ET (July 23, 2025), rush transcript.
- Joseph R. Biden Jr., Statement on the Presidential Pardon for R. Hunter Biden (Dec. 1, 2024), reproduced by the American Presidency Project.
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