About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2020)
TODAYS TOP HEADLINES The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, December 10, 2020 3A Biden’sson facing federal investigation BY ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL BALSAMO AND JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter said Wednesday he is facing a federal investigation into his taxes, putting a renewed spotlight on the questions about financial dealings that dogged his father’s campaign. Federal investigators served a round of subpoenas on Tuesday, including to Hunter Biden, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing probe. The tax investiga tion centers on his business dealings, the person said. The Justice Department’s investigation, centering on potential tax fraud crimes, had been going on at least a year before President-elect Biden announced his can didacy, according to another person familiar with the matter. Investigators did not reach out in the weeks prior because of a Justice Department policy surrounding elec tions that prohibits overt investigative acts. In a statement released by the president-elect’s transi tion office, Hunter Biden said he learned about the investi gation on Tuesday but did not disclose specifics about what was being scrutinized. “ 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 appro priately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” he said in a statement. The disclosure of the federal investigation, led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware, comes at an awkward moment for the incoming president, who is assembling his Cabinet. His pick for attorney general could have over sight of the investigation into the new president’s son if it is still ongoing when Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. The transition team said in a statement: “President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger.” Biden’s younger son has been caught up in controversies before. While his father was vice president, Hunter joined the Naval Reserve only to be discharged after testing posi tive for cocaine in his system, later revealing a yearslong struggle with addiction. He also joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014, sparking concerns about the perceptions of a conflict of interest given the elder Biden was deeply involved in U.S. policy toward Ukraine. A Republican-led Senate investigation did not identify any policies that were directly affected by Hunter Biden’s work. JEFF J MITCHELL I Associated Press Paula McMahon prepares a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, as the mass public vaccination program gets underway, at the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday Dec. 8. UK probes whether new vaccine caused allergic reactions BY DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON — Britain’s medical regulator warned Wednes day that people with a history of serious allergic reactions shouldn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioN- Tech, and investigators looked into whether two reactions on the first day of the U.K.’s vaccination program were linked to the shot. The advice was issued on a “precautionary basis,” and the people who had the reactions had recovered, said professor Stephen Powis, medical director for National Health Service in England. Pfizer and BioNTech said they were working with investiga tors “to better understand each case and its causes.” Also on Wednesday, Canada’s health regulator approved the vaccine, with Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser at Heath Canada, calling it “a momentous occasion.” Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses this month and Canadian officials expect to start administering them next week as soon after they are shipped from Belgium on Friday. Britain’s Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has said people should not receive the shot if they have had a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food, such as those who have been told to carry an adrena line shot — such as an EpiPen or other similar devices — or others who have had potentially fatal allergic reactions. The medical regulator also said vaccinations should be carried out only in facilities that have resuscitation equipment. Such advice isn’t uncommon; several vaccines already on the market carry warnings about allergic reactions, and doc tors know to watch for them when people who’ve had reac tions to drugs or vaccines in the past are given new products. The two people who reported reactions were NHS staff members who had a history of significant allergies and car ried adrenaline shots. Both had serious reactions but recov ered after treatment, the NHS said. Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the regulator had done the right thing, but the general public shouldn’t be worried about getting the vaccine. “For the general population, this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination. One has to remember that even things like Marmite can cause unexpected severe allergic reactions,” he said, referring to the food spread that is made from brewer’s yeast. Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the school of public health at Brown University, said he would advise patients who have had severe allergic reactions to other medicines or foods to delay vacci nation if they can while the two cases in the U.K. are inves tigated. He would extend that advice to people who carry EpiPens. Negotiations continue Lawmakers act to avert shutdown, buy time for COVID talks GREG NASH I Associated Press Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky talks during a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 8, on Capitol Hill in Washington. BY ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON - Still spinning their wheels on COVID-19 relief, lawmakers grabbed a one-week government fund ing extension on Wednesday that buys time for more talks — though there is considerable disagreement over who is supposed to be taking the lead from there. Amid the uncertainty, the House easily passed a one-week government wide funding bill that sets a new Dec. 18 deadline for Congress to wrap up both the COVID-19 relief measure and a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill that is also overdue. The 343-67 vote sent the one-week bill to the Senate, where it’s expected to easily pass before a dead line of midnight Friday to avert a partial government shutdown. The measure would give lawmakers more time to sort through the hot mess they have created for themselves after months of futile negotiations and postur ing and recent rounds of flip-flopping. Top GOP leaders said the right people to handle endgame negotiations are the top four leaders of Congress and the Trump administration, focused on a pro posal by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to eliminate a Democratic demand for a $160 billion or so aid pack age for state and local governments. Top Democrats, meanwhile, are placing their bets on a bipartisan group of senators who are trying to iron out a $908 billion package. The bipartisan group is getting no encouragement from McConnell, but members are claiming progress on perhaps the most conten tious item, a demand by the Kentucky Republican to award businesses and other organizations protections against COVID-related lawsuits. “We’re trying to get a bipartisan com promise along the lines of the Gang of Eight framework,” said Senate Minor ity Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “We need Leader McConnell to stop sabotag ing the talks and work with this gang of eight, which is the most hopeful and the only bipartisan group together.” Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., however, said the only way to resolve the negotiations is for McCon nell, Pelosi and the White House to take charge. “The bipartisan group provided a good foundation kind of a place to start from. And hopefully, the negotiations are real negotiations on what can ulti mately pass the House, the Senate, and get signed,” Thune said. “We need to get underway.” The Trump administration is back in the middle of the negotiations, offer ing a $916 billion package on Tuesday that would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by the bipartisan group of Sen ate negotiators. The offer arrived Tuesday came with the endorsement of the top House Republican and apparent backing from McConnell, who had previously favored a $519 billion GOP plan that has already failed twice. But Democrats immedi ately blasted the plan over the admin istration’s refusal to back the partial restoration, to $300 per week, of bonus pandemic jobless benefits that lapsed in August. “I think everybody is encouraged that there is a real framework here that everybody agrees on and there’s a few issues that are still the sticking points,” Treasury Secretary Steven Muchin told reporters Wednesday. “The two biggest issues are the money for state and local governments and liability protections. If we can’t resolve those, we can move for ward on everything else. I don’t want to tell a bunch of small businesses that they can’t get (paycheck protection) loans.”
