Hunter Biden Friend Worked for Prosecutor After Investigation Into President’s Son Began

Hunter Biden arrives for a toast during an official State Dinner in honor of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the White House on June 22, 2023. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

A friend of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was employed by the U.S. attorney’s office investigating the Hunter after the probe started, according to the friend’s resume.

Alexander Mackler, who has served in various roles for the Biden family for years, was working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware in 2019, according to his LinkedIn.

The investigation by the same office into Mr. Hunter Biden started in January 2019, IRS whistleblower Joseph Zeigler told lawmakers in a recent interview (pdf), about two months after the IRS began investigating the younger Biden.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office, which is headed by David Weiss and part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), did not respond to a request for comment.

“I can’t imagine that a US attorney’s office would allow someone so close to the focus of an investigation to work on that case. But given whistleblower testimony indicating irregularities in handling this case, it is sadly not beyond the realm of possibility," Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, told The Epoch Times via email.

“DOJ owes the American people far more transparency in this matter,” Mr. Chamberlain added.

Alexander Mackler in an undated image. LinkedIn

Work for Bidens Overlapped

Mr. Mackler worked for Mr. Joe Biden’s office in 2007 and 2008, when the latter was a U.S. senator. He was campaign manager for Beau Biden, Mr. Joe Biden’s other son, in 2010. And he became deputy counsel to Mr. Joe Biden when the latter was vice president, from September 2014 to August 2016—the same month he started at the U.S. attorney’s office, according to the resume.

Emails from a laptop computer that the FBI verified as belonging to Mr. Hunter Biden show Mr. Mackler was working for the Bidens in August 2016, including helping review a formal statement announcing a Biden institute at the University of Delaware. He also told Mr. Hunter Biden that once people leave public office, “they can do almost whatever they want and take money from almost anyone they can personally stomach and who passes their personal barometer.”

Mr. Mackler often corresponded with Mr. Hunter Biden and businessmen who worked with the younger Biden, according to the emails. In one message in 2018, while working at the U.S. attorney’s office, Mr. Mackler described Mr. Hunter Biden as a “brother” and told him in messages that he loved him.

Court records also show that Mr. Mackler co-prosecuted at least one case with Lesley Wolf, another prosecutor in Delaware. Ms. Wolf, whistleblowers say, withheld the laptop contents from them.

Mr. Mackler did not respond to requests for comment sent via LinkedIn and to the Delaware Department of Justice, where he now works as chief deputy attorney general under Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, a longtime supporter of Mr. Joe Biden.

Concerns About Investigation

Mr. Weiss, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, was ostensibly head of the probe into Mr. Hunter Biden. Mr. Weiss was “permitted to … make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to,” Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee of Mr. Joe Biden, told reporters on June 23.

But whistleblowers countered that idea, pointing to notes from a meeting involving IRS investigators and Mr. Weiss.

According to the notes, from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, Mr. Weiss said that he wasn’t the person deciding whether charges would be filed and that requests for charges to be brought in Washington and California had been rejected.

The notes were corroborated by Darrell Waldon, another IRS official. Mr. Waldon referred the matter to the Department of Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration.

The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington on June 28, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Plan to Plead Guilty

Mr. Hunter Biden plans to plead guilty to two counts of intentionally failing to pay taxes, according to prosecutors and lawyers for the defendant.

It remains to be seen whether the U.S. court in Delaware accepts the plea deal, which has not yet been made public.

Prosecutors have also allowed Mr. Hunter Biden to enter a pretrial diversion program for a third charge, which was brought because he possessed a gun despite being a drug addict.

If Mr. Hunter Biden successfully completes the program, the charge is likely to be expunged, some legal experts have said.

Upcoming Testimony

Mr. Weiss has agreed to testify to the U.S. House of Representatives, which is investigating the probe into Mr. Hunter Biden and the involvement of Mr. Joe Biden in the younger Biden’s business dealings, the Department of Justice said this week.

Mr. Weiss can testify after a break Congress is set to take starting in late July and lasting through Sept. 4, assistant attorney general Carlos Felipe Uriarte told Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Devon Archer, a longtime business associate of Mr. Hunter Biden, is slated to sit for a transcribed interview on July 31, according to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Mr. Archer’s lawyer.

Mr. Archer has already answered questions from a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice, and other government agencies, Matthew Schwartz, the lawyer, told The Epoch Times in an email.

The agencies were investigating “the Biden family,” according to Mr. Schwartz.

Correction: A previous version of this article included incorrect dates for Mr. Mackler’s emails. They were sent in August 2016. The Epoch Times regrets the error.