WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian businessman accused of corruption who tried to “influence U.S. government policy” during Joe Biden’s term as vice president, prosecutors said in court documents Wednesday.
Special counsel David Weiss said Hunter Biden’s business partner will testify at the president’s son’s upcoming federal tax trial over the executive branch arrangement, Gabriel Popoviciuwho was at that time under criminal prosecution in Romania.
The allegations are likely to spark a new wave of criticism of Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, which center of Republican investigations in the president’s family. Hunter Biden has dismissed Republican investigations into his family’s business dealings as politically motivated, and has maintained that he never involved his father in his business.
An attorney for Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Prosecutors plan to introduce evidence that Hunter Biden and his business partner “received compensation from a foreign executive who attempted to influence U.S. policy and public opinion,” the filing said. Popoviciu wanted U.S. government agencies to investigate the Romanian bribery investigation he was facing in the hope that it would put an end to his legal troubles, prosecutors said.
Popoviciu is identified in court documents only as GP, but the details match information released in the congressional investigation and media reporting about Hunter Biden’s legal work in Romania. Popoviciu was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2017 after being convicted of real estate fraud. He has denied any wrongdoing. A lawyer who previously represented Popoviciu did not immediately respond to a phone call Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Hunter Biden arranged with his business partner to help Popoviciu fight the criminal charges against him. But prosecutors say they were concerned that “lobbying work could have political ramifications” for Joe Biden, so the arrangement was structured to “obscure the true nature of the work” from Popoviciu, prosecutors allege.
Hunter Biden’s business partner and Popoviciu signed an agreement to make it appear that Popoviciu’s payments were for “management services to real estate companies in Romania.” However, prosecutors said, “That was not what GP actually paid for.”
Popoviciu and Hunter’s business partner even agreed to be paid for their work to “attempt to influence U.S. government agencies to look into the Romania investigation,” prosecutors said. Hunter Biden’s business partner was paid more than $3 million, which was split with Hunter and another business partner, prosecutors said.
The allegations were made in court documents as prosecutors responded to a request from Hunter Biden’s legal team to exclude from his upcoming trial any reference to allegations of improper political influence that have dogged the president’s son for years. While the Republican investigation has raised ethical questions, it has not revealed any evidence that the president acted corruptly or accepted bribes in his current role or his previous stint as vice president.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers have said in court documents that he has “been the target of politically motivated attacks and conspiracy theories” about his foreign business dealings. But they noted that he “has never been charged with a crime related to these baseless allegations, and the Special Counsel should therefore be barred from even raising such issues at trial.”
Hunter Biden’s trial, set to begin next month in Los Angeles, focuses on charges that he failed to pay at least $1. $1.4 million in taxes over four years during a period when he acknowledged that he was struggling with drug addiction.
Prosecutors say they will not present evidence that Hunter Biden was paid directly by a foreign government, “or evidence that the defendant received compensation for actions taken by his father that influenced national or international policy.”
Still, prosecutors say what Hunter Biden agreed to do for Popoviciu is relevant at trial because it shows “his condition, mind and intent” during the years he is accused of failing to pay his taxes.
“It is also evidence that the defendant’s actions do not reflect the behavior of someone with diminished capacity, as he agreed to attempt to influence U.S. public policy and receive millions of dollars” in the agreement with his business partner, prosecutors wrote.
Tax trial takes place months after Hunter Biden was convicted of three crimes over the 2018 gun purchase. Prosecutors argued that the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he did not use or have a drug addiction.
He faces up to 25 years in prison, according to a Nov. 13 hearing in Wilmington, Delaware. But because he is a first-time offender, he will likely receive much less time or even no prison time at all.