Democrats have begun to criticize Hunter Biden in an effort to defend President Joe Biden, who is facing an impeachment inquiry over his involvement in Hunter's business dealings.
After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) announced the inquiry, "Democrats don't plan to even try to defend Hunter Biden's conduct during his time serving on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma," Politico reported Wednesday.
"Hunter Biden may have very well done some improper things," Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.) said. "He's a disturbed man."
Democrats' criticisms come after the media have started turning on Hunter Biden, as the Washington Free Beacon reported last month. MSNBC contributor Sam Stein, for example, went so far as to call Biden's business dealings "obviously unseemly and problematic."
Rather than defending Hunter Biden, Democrats' strategy will be "cleaving off the son's conduct from his father's," according to Politico.
Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D., V.I.), for example, said that "our job, or my job, will be to remind the American people … that Hunter Biden is not the administration."
"You can't impeach Hunter Biden, but he will be prosecuted," said Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D., Md.), one of the most vocal opponents of Republicans' probe into Hunter Biden's business dealings.
Politico insisted in its Wednesday story that "the probe has yet to find any evidence directly linking Hunter Biden's business dealings to Joe."
Former business associates of Hunter Biden have stated, however, that Joe Biden was involved in his son's dealings with both Burisma and a Chinese energy company. One former associate, Devon Archer, told Congress last month that Joe Biden attended a dinner with a Burisma executive. The Biden campaign has denied for years that any such meeting took place.
Archer also testified that "Hunter Biden called his father more than 20 times during business meetings," the Free Beacon reported.