Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, leaves the U.S. District Courthouse in Wilmington, Del., on July 26, 2023.
“The reality is this appointment is meant to distract from and slow down our investigations,” said Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chair of Ways and Means, one of three congressional committees looking into the Biden family’s finances. After leaving his job as a lobbyist while his father was running to become vice president more than a decade ago, Hunter Biden, a Yale-educated lawyer, and partners entered into a series of international business relationships, often with firms seeking influence and access within the United States. He was paid handsomely, even as he descended into drug addiction, and Republicans have accused him and his family of corruption.
He described the appointment of a special counsel as “a direct acknowledgment that Hunter Biden did something wrong,” and he recalled Joe Biden saying in a 2020 debate with Trump that he had not done anything wrong. “There’s a real need to make sure that whatever charging decisions are made are very, very well supported and the department can really stand behind them,” DaCunha said. “It seems like this will extend the life of the investigation, and so there are lots of ways in which this is going to complicate the narrative for Democrats moving forward and give the Republicans lots of leverage.”