Special counsel says Romanian oligarch paid Hunter Biden to influence US policies

The office of special counsel David Weiss is accusing Hunter Biden of taking payments from a Romanian oligarch to influence U.S. policies while Joe Biden was vice president.

The accusations are part of the federal tax case against Hunter Biden and involve legal work Gabriel Popoviciu hired him to do in 2015.

"The government will introduce the evidence ... that [Hunter Biden] and Business Associate 1 received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and cause the United States to investigate the Romanian investigation of [Popoviciu] in Romania," prosecutors wrote in Wednesday's filing about how they plan to prosecute the upcoming trial.

Hunter Biden and his business associate allegedly hid the work they were doing for Popoviciu because they feared it could reflect badly on his father.

Between November 2015 and 2017, Hunter and the associate split more than $3 million from Popoviciu.

The trial is set to begin in September, and could have presented a major challenge for Joe Biden if he had chosen to remain in the presidential race.