What were the charges against Hunter Biden before the presidential pardon?

President Joe Biden issued a presidential pardon for his son Hunter Biden, waiving off tax and gun-related charges against him on December 1, after previously stating that he would not interfere with the Justice Department’s prosecution, as per an official statement released by the White House.
Joe Biden ‘s decision comes just weeks before Hunter Biden is set to be sentenced for his conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before president-elect Donald Trump is due to return to the White House.
Robert Hunter Biden, 54, publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020, in connection with his business dealings in China, and claims of tax and money laundering law violations.
The New York Times reported that a special investigation had been launched in 2018, led by then US attorney for Delaware, David Weiss.
A senate Republicans’ report stated that $4.79 million were found in wire transfers from entities linked to Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming and his company, CEFC China Energy, for services generating foreign-income through Hunter Biden’s businesses.
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The investigation led to the seizure of Hunter Biden’s laptop and generated controversy ahead of Joe Biden’s election as president as well.
The younger Biden was accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes in a case in California as well where he pled guilty to misdemeanour and felony charges.
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Hunter Biden was also convicted in June, 2024 in a Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs at the time, reported news agency AP. The prosecution claimed that cocaine residue had been found in his gun pouch.
Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in the case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after his past struggles with cocaine addiction were aired during the trial.
The tax charges against Hunter Biden carry up to 17 years of prison time and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
The pardon on all charges against Hunter Biden covers all “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”
In light of the pardon, Hunter Biden’s legal team also released a 52-page white paper titled “The political prosecutions of Hunter Biden,” describing the president’s son as a “surrogate to attack and injure his father, both as a candidate in 2020 and later as president.”
In his pardon as well, Joe Biden stated that he was not being partial to his son but was making right, “the miscarriage of justice” conducted against his son, especially under the previous Trump regime.
In his statement he said, “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”