Hunter Biden Reaches Deal to Plead Guilty to Misdemeanor Tax Charges

After his father became vice president in 2009, he built relationships with wealthy foreigners that brought in millions of dollars, surfacing concerns inside the Obama administration and among government watchdog groups that he was cashing in on his family name.

He went into a downward spiral after his brother, Beau, died in 2015, becoming addicted to crack cocaine and engaging in tawdry, self-destructive behavior.

As president, Mr. Trump had long sought to tie Hunter Biden’s business deals and personal troubles to his father. Mr. Trump’s first impeachment had its roots in his efforts to persuade the Ukrainian government to help him show wrongdoing in Hunter Biden’s work for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, and while in the White House he pressured the Justice Department to investigate.

The Justice Department investigation continued after President Biden took office, under the oversight of Mr. Weiss, the Trump appointee, who was kept on and allowed to finish the inquiry. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has testified to Congress that Mr. Weiss had full authority and independence to decide whether to bring a case against Mr. Biden.

In a letter last month to Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Weiss said that he had been “granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to file charges.”

While the outcome of the investigation appeared fairly straightforward in the five pages of documents made public on Tuesday, it was the result of a lengthy back-and-forth between Mr. Biden’s lawyers and the Justice Department. The exchange was more akin to the interactions between the government and a major corporation facing a complex investigation.

The discussions started several years ago when Mr. Biden’s lawyers responded to grand jury subpoenas as prosecutors were examining an array of matters, including his dealings with Chinese investors and his work for Burisma, whose board he served on while his father, as vice president, was overseeing the Obama administration’s policy toward Ukraine.