US president's son to sue tax revenue agency for purposefully embarrassing him

The second son of US President Joe Biden is suing the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for wrongfully sharing his personal tax information.

As reported by Bloomberg, Hunter Biden is accusing two agents of having “targeted and sought to embarrass" him by publishing the specific tax years that were under investigation, deductions and allegations about liability as part of the broader investigation into him.

The current charges against him include two counts related to false statements in purchasing the firearm, such as having lied on a federal form when he said he was drug-free at the time that he purchased a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver in October 2018, as well as a third count of illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs.

An investigation into his business endeavors and personal life has been going on for many years, which ultimately culminated in a plea agreement struck in June, which would have allowed him to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses and enter into a pretrial diversion program to avoid prosecution on the gun charges.

However, this deal fell apart during a court hearing in July after a judge expressed concern over the structure of the agreement and questioned the breadth of an immunity deal, exposing fissures between the two parties.

On August 11, US Attorney David Weiss, who had been originally appointed by Donald Trump, had been chosen as special counsel to the Biden case, granting him broader authority to press charges against Hunter Biden in any district in the country.

His defence attorneys hinted that they plan to fight the charges, but the case could be put on the way to turning into a high-stakes trial as the 2024 presidential elections edge closer.