Joe Biden labeled the accusations of financial improprieties against his son Hunter “foul play,” during a Thursday interview on CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Hunter Biden announced earlier this month that federal agents were investigating his “tax affairs.” The agents are reportedly investigating whether Hunter failed to pay $400,000 in taxes from income he received while on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, NBC reported. Federal prosecutors opened the probe in 2018 and are also reportedly examining potential money laundering violations associated with Hunter’s dealings in China.
While the FBI is in possession of the laptop Hunter reportedly left at a Delaware repair shop, which gave rise to the New York Post reports on his foreign business dealings, the laptop is no longer involved in the investigation, according to the New York Times.
Additionally, Republicans have drawn attention to financial transactions between Hunter Biden and now-defunct Chinese energy company CEFC, which had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
During the Thursday interview, Colbert asked the incoming president how he plans to govern in a bipartisan manner when “the people who want to make hay in Washington are going to try to use your adult son as a cudgel against you.”
“We have great confidence in our son,” Biden said. “I am not concerned about any accusations made against him. It’s used to get to me. I think it’s kind of foul play. But look, it is what it is, and he’s a grown man. He is the smartest man I know [in terms of] pure intellectual capacity. And as long as he’s good, we’re good.”
TONIGHT! @StephenAtHome sits down with President-elect @JoeBiden and @DrBiden and they respond to the attacks on her doctorate degree. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/HMDGxoaq27
— A Late Show (@colbertlateshow) December 18, 2020
President Trump and allies have claimed that Joe Biden has been influenced by his son’s foreign business dealings, a claim that the incoming president denies. Trump’s attempts to uncover dirt on the Bidens in Ukraine led to a series of events that culminated in congressional Democrats’ attempt to impeach the president.