Hunter Biden’s financial benefactor convened a crisis meeting at his residence and feared the political “risk” presented by Hunter’s allegedly delinquent taxes, newly released documents show.
Kevin Morris, the Hollywood attorney identified as Hunter Biden’s financial backer, held a meeting at his residence around January 2020 and expressed concerns about the political “risk” of the younger Biden’s unpaid taxes shortly thereafter, according to documents released Tuesday by the House Ways and Means Committee. (RELATED: Joe Biden Used Fake Name To Exchange Over 50 Private Emails With Hunter Biden’s Business Associate, Docs Show)
READ THE EMAILS:
“Emergency is off for today. Still need to file Monday – we are under considerable risk personally and politically to get the returns in. Sorry for the pressure earlier. Please send the issues list ASAP,” Morris said in a Feb. 7, 2020, email to Troy Schmidt, Hunter Biden’s tax preparer. Hunter Biden and George Mesires, his attorney at the time, were cc’ed on Morris’ email.
“Thank you. We will continue to press ahead with completing the returns and will be sending drafts later today for review by you and your tax counsel,” Schmidt emailed Morris in response.
Morris convened a “crisis meeting” at his residence with Hunter Biden, Schmidt, Mesires and other individuals around Jan. 23, 2020, IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler said in an affidavit. In addition to political risks, Hunter Biden faced pressure from his child support dispute with the mother of his love child and issues with his marital separation agreement, Ziegler noted.
“During the time of this email, Hunter Biden had a significant amount of external pressure related to these unfiled tax returns. The external sources of this pressure known at the time by the investigative team was from Hunter’s Arkansas child support court case and from potentially being in breach of his marital separation agreement with his ex-wife,” Ziegler asserted.
IRS, FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) Tax officials interviewed Schmidt in November 2021 as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes and firearms possession, a memo released by the Ways and Means Committee lays out. Schmidt recalled aspects of the meeting and Morris’ relationship with Hunter Biden.
READ THE INTERVIEW MEMO:
“Either Morris or Morris’ assistant had invited Schmidt to this meeting and Schmidt stated that at the time, he had no idea what he was walking into. Schmidt stated that the meeting lasted 2 ½ hours,” the memo reads. Morris had only “appeared” days before the meeting, the memo states.
“Schmidt didn’t recall the exact purpose of the crisis meeting, Schmidt originally thought that they were going to discuss RHB’s returns, but that they didn’t end up discussing anything about the preparation of RHB’s tax returns. Schmidt stated that at least ten people were at the meeting and that he didn’t end up documenting everyone at the meeting. Schmidt recalled Mesires, RHB, Morris and Lindsey Wineberg at the meeting.”
RHB refers to Hunter Biden’s full name, Robert Hunter Biden.
Morris appeared to be an advisor to Hunter Biden and his family but did not take part in the tax preparation for Hunter Biden’s overdue taxes.
“Schmidt stated that Morris’ role was another advisor to RHB and RHB’s family. Schmidt was not surprised that a lot of attorneys were working for RHB,” the memo says.
Hunter Biden’s uncle and business associate James Biden thanked Morris “on behalf of the family” at Morris’ request, an interview memo released in September shows. James Biden told investigators he did not know why Morris was helping Hunter Biden.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Internal Revenue Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley (L) and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler (R), who both worked on the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, testify before the House Ways and Means Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Ways and Means Committee is hearing testimony from Internal Revenue whistleblowers Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, who both claim they were blocked from pursuing leads that would lead to more serious charges during their five-year investigation into Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Morris paid a total of $4.9 million to cover Hunter Biden’s overdue taxes and personal expenses from 2020-2022, Ziegler testified Tuesday to the Ways and Means Committee.
“This continued into 2020, 2021 and 2022, in which Hunter received approximately $4.9 million in payments for personal expenses, again in the form of a loan and gift from Democratic Donor Kevin Patrick Morris,” Ziegler stated. He later testified about Morris’ alleged relationship with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
“We have a reason to believe that Kevin Morris was on phone calls with the presidential campaign prior to Joe Biden securing the presidency,” Ziegler testified, according to newly released excerpts from the Ways and Means Committee.
“Hunter Biden wasn’t running for office, so who is who is impacted politically by Hunter Biden’s tax returns not being filed? Look at when did he meet Kevin Morris and when were the tax payments made? It’s about two months prior to meeting him,” Ziegler added.
The Hollywood attorney appeared to take on $250,000 of debt Hunter Biden owed to a Chinese business associate, Just the News first reported.
Hunter Biden’s failed guilty plea deal with the DOJ identified a third party responsible for paying roughly $2 million of his taxes without naming the third party benefactor. Prior news reports had identified Morris as the third party financier.
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley wrote in a May 2021 memo that investigators believed there could be campaign finance violations surrounding Morris’ support for Hunter Biden. Shapley accused Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Lesley Wolf of not wanting investigators to look into the potential campaign finance issues.
“And, then ultimately, in late 2019-2020, a Kevin Patrick Morris comes into the picture. And he was described as meeting Hunter Biden at a campaign finance event. And he paid off several different tranches of tax due and owing, to include Federal and D.C. tax due and owing,” Shapley testified to the Ways and Means Committee in May. He also said Morris’ payments were classified as loans on the tax returns.
The House Ways and Means Committee released Shapley’s memo in September as part of a tranche of documents supporting the whistleblowers’ initial testimony before the committee. Both IRS whistleblowers accused the DOJ of giving Hunter Biden special treatment during the ongoing criminal investigation into his taxes and firearms possession.
Morris is reportedly helping pay Hunter Biden’s mounting legal bills and advising him on legal strategy. He supports the aggressive approach Hunter Biden is taking against his political opponents, including the IRS whistleblowers, Politico reported.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – JULY 26: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and United States Courthouse on July 26, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prosecution on an additional gun charge. However, the federal judge overseeing the case unexpectedly delayed Biden’s plea deal and deferred her decision until more information is put forth by both the prosecution and the defense. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on three federal gun charges and pleaded not guilty at an Oct. 3 arraignment in Delaware. He was spotted leaving Morris’ California residence ahead of his not guilty plea, the Daily Mail first reported.
The first son is suing the IRS for alleged illegal disclosures by the IRS whistleblowers. His current attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, has also suggested Weiss investigate the IRS agents. Lowell and Morris did not respond to requests for comment.
House Republicans published a report Tuesday detailing how witness testimony confirmed central allegations brought forward by the IRS whistleblowers. Officials from the DOJ, FBI and IRS including Weiss have testified before Congress about their roles in the Hunter Biden investigation, according to transcripts reviewed by the Caller.
The alleged special treatment given to Hunter Biden is part of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden lead by the Ways and Means, Judiciary and Oversight Committees.
The White House disputed the IRS whistleblower allegations in a memo first obtained by the Washington Examiner. White House officials have also circulated a memo pushing back against allegations of “obstruction” in the impeachment inquiry probe.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan have threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a subpoena and show up for a deposition scheduled for Dec. 13.
Lowell offered in late November for Hunter Biden to testify publicly instead of behind closed doors. House Republicans rejected Lowell’s offer and said his client must come in for the deposition before he testifies publicly.
All three House panels leading the impeachment inquiry are seeking to interview Morris as Republicans weigh a floor vote to expand the inquiry’s scope by officially authorizing it. House Republicans released the text of the impeachment inquiry resolution on Thursday morning.
Hunter Biden was indicted in California Thursday on nine counts related to his failure to pay taxes over a four year period. He had a “Personal Friend” pay over $1.2 million to third parties during that time period, the indictment states without naming the third party.
This story has been updated to include the new criminal charges against Hunter Biden.