从他多年来的评论中可以明显看出父爱关系乔·拜登与他的儿子亨特的关系超过了对外表和政治影响的关注。
拜登一直坚称，他相信53岁的亨特是他两个幸存的孩子之一，在联邦调查小拜登的税务和海外商业交易期间，他没有做任何邪恶的事情。
“首先，我儿子没有做错任何事，”拜登上个月在检察官接近调查结束时告诉MSNBC的斯蒂芬妮·鲁勒。“我信任他。我对他有信心。这影响了我的总统任期，让我为他感到骄傲。”
周二，亨特·拜登同意承认两项与税收有关的轻罪，这可能会结束调查。年轻的拜登将承认他在2017年和2018年收到的收入没有纳税，并与检察官就非法持有枪支的重罪指控达成协议。
事态的发展正如拜登总统所言开始竞选第二个任期，当国会共和党人试图将第一家庭描绘成腐败的时候。
这些指控不太可能让共和党内的那些人满意，他们一直专注于在没有提供证据的情况下瞄准他们所谓的“拜登犯罪家族”，以及那些在唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)被起诉后抨击他们认为是双层司法系统的人。
白宫在很大程度上避免对特朗普任命的美国司法部长魏红星进行的调查发表评论，但坚称总统和他的儿子从未讨论过后者的商业交易。
周二亨特·拜登认罪协议的消息传出后，白宫发言人伊恩·萨姆斯发表了一份简短声明。
萨姆斯说:“总统和第一夫人爱他们的儿子，在他继续重建生活时支持他。”“我们没有进一步的评论。”
拜登后来回答记者提出的关于亨特·拜登的问题时说:“我为我的儿子感到骄傲。”
2016年4月12日，亨特·拜登和他的父亲，时任副总统乔·拜登，在华盛顿特区的美洲国家组织出席世界粮食计划署美国年度麦戈文-多尔领导奖颁奖仪式
Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images，文件
政府此前强调，拜登总统和白宫都没有与司法部讨论过这项调查，司法部长梅里克·加兰(Merrick Garland)在3月份还表示，检察官的工作没有受到任何干扰。
2022年4月，白宫办公厅主任罗恩·克莱恩(Ron Klain)在美国广播公司(ABC)的“本周”(This Week)节目中表示，“这是一个将由司法部通过法律程序决定的问题。”。"这是白宫没有人参与的事情。"
调查始于2018年，并于2020年12月公开，就在拜登当选总统之后。当时，拜登的过渡团队发表声明说，拜登仍然“为他的儿子深感自豪，他经历了艰难的挑战，包括最近几个月的恶意人身攻击，只是变得更加强大。”
从那以后，总统只对这个问题发表过几次评论，每次都是为年轻的拜登辩护偶尔竖起对他儿子行为的质疑和指控。
2022年10月，拜登对美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)的杰克·塔珀(Jake Tapper)说:“我相信他是——他说的和做的，与发生的事情是一致的。”。“例如，他写了一本关于他的问题的书，并且很坦率。我为他感到骄傲。”
在他2021年的回忆录《美好的事物》(Beautiful Things)中，亨特·拜登详细描述了他与毒瘾的斗争(他说，在2015年他的哥哥博·拜登因脑癌去世后，他的毒瘾进入了一个更黑暗的阶段)，以及他的家庭关系和他在父亲的政治生涯中试图建立一个成功的商业生涯。
亨特·拜登描述当他的父亲在他的一次御术中来检查他时，写道:“他看起来被他所看到的吓呆了。他问我是否还好，我告诉他，当然，我很好。“我知道你不好，亨特，”他打量着我，扫视着公寓。你需要帮助。我看着父亲的眼睛，看到了绝望和恐惧的表情。"
亨特·拜登最近经常出现在白宫的活动中，出现在他父亲为法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙举行的国宴和肯尼迪中心的颁奖典礼上。他还陪同拜登总统访问了爱尔兰。
去年9月，当哥伦比亚广播公司新闻节目《60分钟》的记者斯科特·佩里问及亨特·拜登的任何麻烦是否给“你或美国带来了冲突”时，拜登说没有
“我爱我的儿子，第一。他与成瘾问题作斗争，”拜登回应道。“他克服了它。他写了关于它的文章。不，从我观察到的情况来看，没有一件事会影响到我和我儿子亨特相关的美国。”
对他的指控将如何影响拜登总统的连任竞选还有待观察。
众议院共和党人利用他们的多数席位发起了一项调查，并举行了各种听证会，调查亨特·拜登的私人交易。众议院监督主席詹姆斯·卡莫。周二发誓要继续这些努力。
特朗普自己也面临着多项法律麻烦，包括因涉嫌不当处理机密文件而受到的联邦指控。周二，特朗普声称亨特·拜登被打了“一张‘交通罚单’。”"
“我们的系统坏了!”特朗普在Truth Social上写道。
拜登总统的最后一次总统竞选也面临着关于他儿子的错综复杂的问题，然后共和党人试图在选民的心目中把拜登和他的儿子联系起来，但最终没有成功。
在2020年总统竞选期间丑闻激增的情况下，年轻的拜登提供了一些个人采访讨论他的成瘾斗争和他过去的关系，包括与他哥哥的遗孀海莉。
在2019年接受美国广播公司新闻采访时，他为自己的私人商业交易的道德影响进行了辩护，但承认未能预见其父亲职业生涯的政治影响是一个失误。
“现在回想起来，我认为是我判断失误。我认为这是一个糟糕的判断，因为我不相信现在，当我回过头来看，我知道我没有做错任何事情，”亨特·拜登说。“然而，置身于现实生活中是不是判断失误...一片沼泽?是啊。”
As a father, Joe Biden has long defended son Hunter, despite controversy
It seems clear from his comments over the years that the fatherly relationshipJoe Bidenhas with his son Hunter outweighs concerns about appearances and political implications.
Biden has long maintained he was confident Hunter, 53, one of his two surviving children, had done nothing nefarious amid a federal investigation into the younger Biden's tax affairs and overseas business dealings.
"First of all, my son's done nothing wrong," Biden told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle last month as prosecutors neared the end of their probe. "I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him."
On Tuesday, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to a pair of tax-related misdemeanors, potentially bringing an end to the probe. The younger Biden will acknowledge failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018, and struck a deal with prosecutors regarding a felony charge related to illegal possession of a firearm.
The development comes just as President Biden hasbegun campaigning for a second term,and as congressional Republicans attempt at every turn to paint the first family as corrupt.
The charges are unlikely to satisfy those in the GOP who've been laser-focused on targeting what they call, without providing evidence, the "Biden crime family" and those lashing out at what they perceive to be a two-tiered system of justice in the wake of Donald Trump's indictments.
The White House had largely avoided commenting on the investigation carried out by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump appointee, but maintained the president and his son never discussed the latter's business dealings.
After news broke Tuesday of Hunter Biden's plea agreement, White House spokesperson Ian Sams released a short statement.
"The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," Sams said. "We will have no further comment."
Biden later responded to questions shouted by reporters about Hunter Biden by stating, "I'm very proud of my son."
The administration had previously emphasized neither President Biden nor the White House had discussed the probe with the Justice Department, and Attorney General Merrick Garland said as recently as March prosecutors were operating free from any interference.
"That's a matter that's going to be decided by the Justice Department, by the legal process," White House chief of staff Ron Klain said on ABC's "This Week" in April 2022. "It's something that no one at the White House has involvement in."
The investigation began in 2018 and became public in December 2020, just after Biden became president-elect. At the time, Biden's transition team released a statement saying Biden remained "deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger."
The president commented on the issue only a handful of times since then, each time coming to the younger Biden's defense andoccasionally bristlingat questions and accusations about his son's conduct.
"I'm confident that he is -- what he says, and does, are consistent with what happens," Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper in October 2022. "And, for example, he wrote a book about his problems, and was straightforward about it. I'm proud of him."
In his 2021 memoir "Beautiful Things," Hunter Biden detailed his struggle with drug addiction (which he said entered a darker phase after the death of his brother Beau Biden from brain cancer in 2015) as well as his familial relationships and his attempt to build a successful business career during his father's political career.
Hunter Bidendescribedwhen his father came to check on him during one of his benders, writing: "He looked aghast at what he saw. He asked if I was okay and I told him, sure, I was fine. 'I know you're not fine, Hunter,' he said, studying me, scanning the apartment. 'You need help.' I looked into my dad's eyes and saw an expression of despair, an expression of fear."
Hunter Biden has been visible at recent White House events, appearing at his father's side at a state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron and at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. He also accompanied President Biden during his trip to Ireland.
When asked by CBS News' "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley last September if any of Hunter Biden's troubles have caused "conflicts for you or for the United States," Biden said no.
"I love my son, number one. He fought -- an addiction problem," Biden responded. "He overcame it. He wrote about it. And no, there's not a single thing that I've observed at all from th-- that would affect me or the United States relative to my son Hunter."
It remains to be seen how the charges against him will impact President Biden's reelection bid.
House Republicans have used their majority to launch an investigation and hold various hearings into Hunter Biden's private dealings. House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., vowed Tuesday to continue those efforts.
Trump -- who faces multiple legal troubles of his own, including federal charges for his alleged mishandling of classified documents -- on Tuesday alleged Hunter Biden was slapped with "a mere 'traffic ticket.'"
"Our system is BROKEN!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
President Biden's last presidential campaign, too, faced swirling questions about his son and then Republicans were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempt to tie Biden to his son in the minds of voters.
Amid scandals proliferating during the 2020 presidential campaign, the younger Biden gave somepersonal interviewsdiscussing his addiction struggles and his past relationships, including one with his brother's widow Hallie.
In a 2019 sit down with ABC News, he defended the ethical implications of his private business dealings but conceded a misstep in failing to foresee the political implications on his father's career.
"In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part. Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don't believe now, when I look back on it -- I know that there was -- did nothing wrong at all," Hunter Biden said. "However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is...a swamp in many ways? Yeah."
