The New York Times published an extensive profile on Sunday detailing the relationship between Hunter Biden and Zoë Kestan, a former downtown New York artist and social media personality who met the president's son while working at Vivid Cabaret, a Midtown Manhattan strip club, in 2017.

According to the article, Kestan, who was 24 at the time, had no idea who Hunter Biden was when they first met at Vivid Cabaret. Their encounter led to an 11-month relationship that would later make her a key witness in federal investigations into Hunter's conduct.

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The profile reveals intimate details of their time together, including stays at luxury hotels across New York and Los Angeles, describing how Hunter, then 47, showed interest in her creative work and introduced her as his girlfriend to his social circle.

Kestan, now 31, described to the New York Times how she witnessed Hunter's struggles with addiction, particularly during their stay at the Chateau Marmont, where he would retreat to the bathroom with a laptop and crack pipe, making phone calls all night and turning to cam girls on the internet when no one answered while she slept.

The relationship ended in November 2018 when Hunter sent her an email announcing his marriage to "the love of his life," but its aftermath continued to affect Kestan's life. When Hunter's laptop contents became public in 2020, she found herself unexpectedly thrust into the national spotlight. She later testified in federal court about Hunter's drug use during their time together.

Now working as a design director, Kestan told the New York Times, "It was only a year of my life, but it doesn't feel like something that should have defined me for so long."

The article comes just days after President Joe Biden announced his decision to pardon his son, who faced federal charges related to gun possession and tax evasion.

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Throughout his career in public service – as legislator, vice president in the Obama administration, and as president of the United States – Joe Biden crafted his identity as a moral guardian committed to upholding legal norms without qualification or compromise in the public sphere, particularly among the highest echelons of the administration and Congress.

Indeed, his crusade against governmental corruption (manifested in his pivotal role in comprehensive campaign finance reform and his persistent confrontation of international partners who had strayed dramatically from democratic principles, integrity, and fair political conduct, turning their positions of power into vehicles for quick and ostentatious self-enrichment at the public's expense) emerged as one of Biden's most distinctive characteristics. The outgoing president positioned himself as the successor to the distinguished Senator Estes Kefauver, who dedicated his political life to an uncompromising battle to cleanse the political system of its moral and ethical afflictions.

Yet now, this very same stalwart who in recent years spared no criticism of Donald Trump and fully backed his prosecution and removal from politics over various ethical transgressions (including the "hush money" payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and multiple tax violations), is set to exit the public stage as one of those politicians whose personal interests eclipse all other principles, including equal treatment under the law.

The irony is profound: Biden – who spent the past decade criticizing Southern courts for applying vastly different legal and moral standards to white defendants versus African American or Latino American suspects – has completely abandoned this legacy of integrity and impartial judgment by granting his son Hunter a sweeping presidential pardon for criminal offenses (including approximately $1.5 million in tax evasion and concealing information about his history of drug and alcohol addiction when applying for a firearms permit).

This pardon came just before an expected verdict in one of his trials that would likely have resulted in several years of imprisonment. In light of these developments, one cannot escape the conclusion that even the mightiest principles have crumbled. What precisely distinguishes Trump, who upon completing his first White House term pardoned associates, from his successor Biden, who readily discards his own established principles to act in blatant nepotistic fashion to spare his son from imprisonment? What fundamental difference exists between this barely explained pardon and the incoming president's practice of staffing his administration with relatives and associates? Does this not inflict grave damage on the Democratic Party's image as the complete antithesis to Trump's impending administration, which they argue threatens the foundational pillars of American democracy?

Historically, US presidents (President Bill Clinton among them) have not hesitated to exercise their presidential pardon privilege for suspects and offenders. However, such actions were not always driven by narrow personal, familial, or sectoral interests that were fundamentally problematic. President Gerald Ford's 1974 blanket pardon of his predecessor Richard Nixon for all Watergate-related offenses serves as an example. Unlike Biden, Ford acted to protect the presidency's institutional standing in America's collective consciousness and ethos from the threat of erosion and devaluation. He paid dearly for this decision – Ford's narrow defeat by Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter in 1976 stemmed directly from this choice.

By contrast, Biden's decision to grant his son Hunter a comprehensive pardon lacks even a trace of altruism. It stands as a cynical and self-serving choice that overshadows his long-preached pursuit of integrity and moral standards in public life, potentially leaving an enduring negative imprint on the Democratic Party and further complicating its recovery from the November 5 defeat.

Against this backdrop, one can only pose the question to Biden, the moral preacher: "Et tu, Brutus?" Or in other words, have you, the champion of unwavering ethical standards, also succumbed to the very behavior you condemned?

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I am glad President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter. I don't think it would be good for the country if a president's son were put behind bars for a nonviolent crime. Besides, I never believed President Biden when he said he wouldn't pardon his son. I don't take the president at his word. In 2019, Biden said he had "never spoken" to Hunter about his business dealings. But then his son refuted that.

I don't blame Joe Biden for flipping on the pardon so much as I blame Hunter Biden for walking away from a plea deal on gun and tax evasion charges that would have spared him from prison time. He wanted an ironclad guarantee that other charges for other crimes would not follow. Hunter later pleaded guilty. Because he was guilty.

In the pardon statement, Biden offered that he pardoned his son because a 2023 plea deal "unraveled in the courtroom" — without mentioning that his arrogant, entitled princeling of a son walked away from the package, even though, as Biden wrote Sunday, the deal "would have been a fair, reasonable solution of Hunter's cases."

I have another beef: the Bidens' lack of introspection. POTUS claims Hunter was "singled out" because he is Biden's son — without recognizing that his son was cashing in because he was Biden's son. Biden also claimed that he made the decision to pardon Hunter over the holiday weekend. Does anyone believe that?

Many Democrats are appalled. On 2Way's "The Morning Meeting," which streams on YouTube, Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine called the pardon "incredibly selfish" and added that Biden's decision to run for re-election, announced in 2023, also was incredibly selfish.

The Hunter Biden pardon is a gift to Donald Trump. When he was president, Trump used the pardon power to the benefit family (Charles Kushner, the father of son-in-law Jared) and supporters (ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio).

Be it noted, Kushner was pardoned after he pleaded guilty and served two years in prison for a suite of charges that included tax evasion, lying to the Federal Election Commission, and retaliation against a witness. Arpaio's pardon followed his conviction for criminal contempt after he flouted a court order in a racial profiling case. In 2025, Trump will be able to point to Biden's example when he issues second-term pardons and commutations.

While his father served as Barack Obama's veep, Biden the Younger was paid more than $2 million by Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm under investigation. Hunter was greedy. He was a tax cheat who eventually pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges, because, as Special Counsel David Weiss wrote, he spent profligately "on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes."

The Yale Law graduate was discharged from the Navy Reserve after he tested positive for cocaine in 2013 and lied about his drug use to facilitate a gun purchase in 2018. Hunter was arrogant.

In October 2020, when the New York Post first reported about Hunter Biden's laptop and incriminating emails, Big Media promptly dismissed the story's credibility. The New York Times even reported that New York Post scribes didn't want their bylines on laptop stories. He thought he had Big Media in his pocket.

More than 50 intelligence big-shots signed a public letter on the laptop story that warned, "Our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case."

There was a caveat: There was no evidence of Russian involvement. Of course, that didn't stop them.

Former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, former CIA head Mike Hayden and former acting CIA Director Mike Morell signed the document. That's how cheaply they held their reputations.

Like Biden.

Originally published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

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Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, pleaded guilty on Thursday to nine federal tax-related charges, potentially facing up to 17 years in prison and $1.35 million in fines. The plea came after a dramatic day of legal maneuvering in a Los Angeles courtroom, as reported by ABC News.

US District Judge Mark Scarsi accepted Biden's guilty plea on all charges stemming from a December indictment. The charges include six misdemeanor counts of failure to pay taxes, one felony tax evasion charge, and two felony charges of filing false returns. Sentencing is scheduled for December 16.

The unexpected plea deal came just moments before jury selection was set to begin for what was anticipated to be a weeks-long trial. Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, initially proposed an Alford plea, which would have allowed Biden to plead guilty without admitting to the underlying conduct. However, when prosecutors objected, and Judge Scarsi expressed hesitation, Biden's legal team opted for a traditional guilty plea. "Mr. Biden is prepared to proceed today and finish this," Lowell stated in court.

Prosecutors had accused Biden of engaging in a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on luxury items, including exotic cars, clothing, escorts, drugs, and high-end hotels.

#BREAKING: Hunter Biden will be pleading GUILTY to federal tax crimes today, including multiple felonies

He faces up to 17 years in prison.

BUT he knows daddy will pardon him on his way out the door, so what's it matter? pic.twitter.com/XJLihyWc3X

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 5, 2024

The guilty plea marks a significant turn in a legal saga that has been characterized by unexpected developments. It also raises questions about the possibility of a presidential pardon, despite President Biden's previous assurances that he would not grant clemency to his son.

When asked by Judge Scarsi if he agreed to having committed every element of the crimes alleged in the indictment, Hunter Biden responded, "Yes," before pleading guilty to each count.

The plea deal allows Biden to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial that would have likely delved into his struggles with drug addiction and scrutinized his overseas business dealings. This development comes after Judge Scarsi recently rejected Biden's latest attempt to dismiss the tax-related charges.

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In a historic first for a child of a sitting US president, Hunter Biden is facing federal charges, including three gun-related counts currently being tried in court in Delaware. His father, President Joe Biden, has made it clear that he will not use his presidential power to pardon his son if he is convicted.

During an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir in Normandy, France, where Biden was commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the president was asked if he would rule out a pardon for Hunter. Biden's response was simple: "Yes." When asked if he would accept the outcome of the jury trial, he again replied, "Yes."

The White House had previously stated that Biden would not pardon his son. "I've been very clear; the president is not going to pardon his son," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in December.

The criminal trial of President Joe Biden's son is heading into its final stretch as the defense tries to chip away at the prosecutors' case laying bare some of the darkest moments of Hunter Biden's drug-fueled past. | Click on the image to read the ful... https://t.co/7VZvM6UpCw

— WISN 12 NEWS (@WISN12News) June 10, 2024

 In a statement when Hunter's trial started on Monday, Biden said: "As the President, I don't and won't comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength. Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support." First Lady Jill Biden has attended the trial most of this week, along with Hunter Biden's wife, Melissa Cohen-Biden, and various other family members.

Hunter Biden is also facing a separate trial in September on federal tax charges. While presidents have the power to grant pardons in federal cases, they cannot pardon state cases.

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Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, begins his trial on June 3 in Delaware on charges of violating federal gun laws in 2018 when he purchased a firearm. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty.

Hunter Biden was charged in September by US Special Counsel David Weiss with three felonies stemming from his purchase and possession of a Colt Cobra .38 revolver in October 2018. He is accused of making a false statement material to a firearms sale and making a false statement in a firearms transaction record. Prosecutors contend he committed a crime when he ticked a box indicating "no" next to a question asking if he was an unlawful user of a controlled substance or addicted to a controlled substance. The third charge is that Hunter Biden violated a law that bars users of illegal drugs or drug addicts from possessing a firearm.

For the first two charges, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter Biden knowingly made a false statement. For the possession charge, the government must prove the following elements: that Biden was either an unlawful user of a controlled substance or was a drug addict; that he knowingly possessed a firearm; and that when he knowingly possessed the firearm he also knew he was an unlawful user of a controlled substance or a drug addict.

The government said it has videos and photographs of Hunter Biden smoking crack or with drug paraphernalia as well as messages sent to purported street dealers arranging drug purchases. The evidence was collected from Biden's iCloud account, laptop, and phone messages, prosecutors have said.

The government said it may call Hunter Biden's ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, and other romantic partners to describe his addiction around the time of the gun purchase and possession. Prosecutors said they plan to introduce excerpts from Biden's 2021 book, "Beautiful Things," in which he described himself as a "crack addict" with no plans beyond "the moment-to-moment demands of the crack pipe."

The government rarely charges someone for false statements on gun purchase forms unless the accused is also charged with a violent crime, according to a Government Accountability Office report cited by Hunter Biden's legal team. More than 80 million American adults own a firearm, but only about 1,000 a year are investigated for false statements on a gun purchase form, and even fewer are charged, according to the GAO.

Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated by President Donald Trump and joined the court in 2018, is the judge for this case. If the jury finds Hunter Biden guilty, he faces up to 25 years in prison, although sentences are typically shorter than the maximum, according to the Department of Justice. As in all US federal criminal cases, the jury of 12 must unanimously agree on a conviction.

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A subpoena seeking documents from Hunter Biden asked for information related to more than two dozen entities, including Ukraine gas company Burisma, according to a person familiar with a Justice Department tax investigation of President-elect Joe Biden's son.

The breadth of the subpoena, issued Tuesday, underscores the wide-angle lens prosecutors are taking as they examine the younger Biden's finances and international business ventures.

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Hunter Biden's ties to Burisma in particular have long dogged the policy work and political aspirations of his father, Joe Biden, now the US president-elect. It's unclear whether Hunter Biden's work at the Ukrainian company is a central part of the federal investigation or whether prosecutors are simply seeking information about all his sources of income in recent years.

The person was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A lawyer for the younger Biden, George Mesires, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment for this story and a spokesman for the Biden transition team declined to comment.

Hunter Biden confirmed Wednesday that his taxes are under federal investigation. The revelation comes at a delicate time for the president-elect, who is forming his cabinet and will soon decide on his nominee to run the Justice Department, the same department overseeing the investigation into his son.

In addition to the Burisma-related request, the subpoena issued last week also seeks information on Hunter Biden's Chinese business dealings and other financial transactions.

The probe was launched in 2018, the year before his father announced his candidacy for president. At one point in the investigation, federal prosecutors were also examining potential money laundering offenses, two people familiar with the matter said.

Hunter Biden said he only learned of the investigation on Tuesday.

The younger Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014, around the time his father, then vice president, was helping conduct former President Barack Obama's foreign policy with Ukraine. US President Donald Trump and his allies have long argued that Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine influenced the Obama administration's policies toward the Eastern European nation.

Senate Republicans said in a report earlier this year that the appointment may have posed a conflict of interest but did not provide evidence that any policies were directly affected by Hunter Biden's work.

The president-elect is not believed to be a focus of the investigation. He has not weighed in on the merits of the investigation, saying only to reporters on Friday that he was "proud of my son."

For months, the US attorney's office in Pittsburgh has also been collecting information from Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and others as part of the Justice Department's process to receive and analyze information related to Ukraine, including documents Giuliani wanted to present to prosecutors that he had been gathering in Ukraine about Joe and Hunter Biden.

In announcing that process in February, Barr cautioned that the department had to be careful about any information coming from Ukraine, saying: "There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine, a lot of cross currents. And we can't take anything we received from Ukraine at face value."

The former New York City mayor was a main character when the House voted to impeach Trump. The impeachment inquiry centered on Trump's dealings with Ukraine's president and whether he abused his office by seeking the investigation into the Bidens. Giuliani pressured officials to carry out the investigations and has been pushing unsubstantiated corruption allegations against the Bidens.

Giuliani himself had also been under federal investigation, with federal prosecutors in Manhattan examining whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the matter. It was unclear whether that investigation remains active as Trump has discussed the possibility of preemptive pardons for some of his family members and close associates, including Giuliani.

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The Justice Department is investigating the finances of President-elect Joe Biden's son, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The revelations put a renewed spotlight on questions about Hunter Biden's financial history, which dogged his father's successful White House campaign and were a frequent target of US President Donald Trump and his allies. They also come at a politically delicate time for the president-elect, who is weighing his choice to lead an agency that is actively investigating his son.

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The tax investigation was launched in 2018, the year before the elder Biden announced his candidacy for president. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation on Wednesday, saying he learned about it for the first time the previous day.

"I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors," he said in a statement.

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