For years, as Hunter Biden faced a protracted criminal probe, he was told to cooperate with prosecutors and wait quietly for exoneration. That strategy, favored by veteran Democrats who came of age in a less pugilistic political era, failed.
The president’s son is now under one indictment, is bracing for another and has become the face of the Republican impeachment probe of his father. And now, he’s directly taking on his adversaries. Over the past three months, Hunter Biden has filed a barrage of lawsuits and has challenged his indictment on gun charges by attacking the prosecution as tainted by Republican pressure. He is even trying to subpoena Donald Trump.
The counteroffensive will play out in courtrooms and in public just as his father ramps up his reelection campaign.
Among Joe Biden’s advisers and Democratic Party operatives, there’s disagreement on its potential political repercussions, according to eight people close to the president and his son. Most were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic.
Some White House staff are “irritated that he’s being more aggressive, because he is not clearing the tactics and the strategy,” said one former 2020 campaign aide.
Some aides worry, too, that Hunter Biden’s courtroom counterpunching only brightens the spotlight on his legal entanglements, foreign business activities, and personal struggle with drug addiction. For these aides, too much engagement with opponents, including Rudy Giuliani and the conservative media, risks legitimizing their most extreme attacks on the president’s family.
But many allies of the president — especially those who cut their teeth during the Trump presidency — see it differently. One called the cautious approach “outdated 1990s rationale” and said that, in the 21st century, it’s reckless to leave allegations unrebutted. For this camp, there was something to learn from Trump’s scandal playbook: It pays to talk loud, move fast and punch hard.
“The American public likes to see people fight back,” said Jamal Simmons, a former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris. “People who fight for themselves tend to get the benefit of the doubt from the public. And I actually think that probably does help the president in the long run.”
Hunter Biden keeps his father aware of his legal moves, according to a person close to his legal team, and the team sends word to top White House staff before making major moves. The moves themselves are entirely up to Hunter Biden and his lawyers — and that’s as it should be, aides emphasize, because the president has vowed to stay out of his son’s legal affairs.
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