Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma is among the entities covered by the Justice Department’s subpoena to President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter, The Associated Press reported Sunday.
The subpoena seeks documents relating to more than two dozen entities. It is unclear if investigators are specifically probing Biden’s work with the company or simply part of a broader accounting of his sources of income.
The report comes days after the younger Biden released a statement Wednesday confirming his taxes are the focus of a federal investigation. The subpoena also seeks further information on his business dealings in China. People familiar with the matter said the probe dated back to 2018 and at one point was also investigating possible money laundering.
Hunter Biden joined Burisma’s board in 2014 while his father was the Obama administration’s point person on Ukraine policy. Although President Trump has frequently claimed without evidence that Biden’s work in Ukraine influenced U.S. policy, a report by Senate Republicans earlier this year found no evidence of any direct impact on Ukraine policy at the time.
The president-elect is not believed to be a target of the investigation and has not weighed in on the legitimacy of the probe beyond saying he is “proud of my son.” The president’s attempts to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens eventually led to his impeachment by the Democratic House of Representatives last year.
Attorney General William Barr reportedly was aware of the investigation of Hunter Biden for months before the election.
Trump has escalated his criticism of his attorney general since the report, including sharing a tweet calling for Barr to be fired over keeping the investigation private. Trump’s vocal dissatisfaction comes shortly after Barr also broke with the president by saying there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The Hill has reached out to the Biden transition team for comment.