Embattled Hunter Biden accuses Republican critics of 'trying to kill me'

US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has said critics of his father are "trying to destroy a presidency" through relentless attacks on him and "trying to kill me," in a podcast interview.

The interview, conducted by his friend, the musician Moby, was released on Friday, one day after the US Justice Department filed new criminal charges against Hunter Biden, accusing him of failing to pay taxes while funding a lavish lifestyle.

It was not clear when the interview, which took place at the younger Biden's art studio in San Francisco, was recorded.

The charges on Thursday come on top of a September 14 indictment against Hunter Biden for lying about his drug use during his purchase of a firearm.

He has pleaded not guilty in that case. Hunter Biden, 53, has also been at the centre of an impeachment inquiry into his father by Republicans in the House of Representatives.

House Republicans allege that Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his family improperly profited from policy decisions he participated in when he was vice president during President Barack Obama's administration in 2009-17.

House Republicans also say the Justice Department improperly interfered with the investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes.

The White House and the Justice Department have denied wrongdoing.

In the interview, Hunter Biden said he and his wife had to move from their home in the middle of the night after a newspaper published their address while his wife was seven or eight months pregnant and supporters of former president Donald Trump appeared outside of their house and pounded on their door.

"I recognise that none of this is necessarily about me," Hunter Biden said. "In their most base way, what they're trying to do is they're trying to kill me, knowing that it will be a pain greater than my father could be able to handle, and so, therefore, destroying a presidency in that way."

Biden rails about rich not paying enough tax

His father is running for reelection in November 2024.

The leading contender for the Republican nomination is former president Donald Trump, who has cheered the Biden impeachment inquiry.

Hunter Biden said some of his Republican critics, such as US Representatives Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene, were "not healthy people."

"I've never witnessed anything like it," Hunter Biden said. "I've never witnessed the level of an invasion of privacy on any individual that I can possibly think of. I've never witnessed a sustained attack on one person like this."

The charges are especially embarrassing as Biden often rails about the rich not paying enough tax.

But Biden has always steadfastly defended his son, pointing to the long history of tragedy that has dogged the family.

"When Beau died, I just completely unravelled. It's not an excuse, but it is the reason," he told Moby.

Hunter Biden’s longstanding struggle with substance abuse worsened after the death of his brother Beau Biden in 2015, according to court documents and his memoir "Beautiful Things," which ended with him getting clean in 2019.

His gross income nevertheless totalled some $7 million between 2016 and 2020, prosecutors said, pointing to his roles on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma and a Chinese private equity fund as well as his position at a law firm.

Hunter eventually filed his taxes in 2020, while facing a child support case in Arkansas, and the back taxes were paid by a "third party," prosecutors have said in court documents.