Newly released federal documents have shed light on an allegation that Hunter Biden, the son of former US President Joe Biden, sent a threatening text message to a Los Angeles-based sex worker in December 2020, claiming he knew her location and that a laptop had recorded their intimate encounter.
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According to an FBI affidavit, the woman contacted the bureau days after Hunter Biden publicly acknowledged that federal investigators were examining his tax affairs. She reported receiving a message that she interpreted as a threat.
The affidavit quoted the alleged message as follows: “Don’t forget that I know where you are, you have an ankle bracelet and that the laptop was recording,”
The woman also told investigators that she had “intercourse with Hunter in front of the laptop while facetiming with a third party.”
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According to her account, Hunter Biden allegedly refused to pay her for the encounter and threatened to demand the return of some money. The documents did not establish precisely when the alleged threat was made.
The complaint reportedly featured in email exchanges among FBI employees in December 2020, approximately one month after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in that year’s presidential election.
The affidavit stated: “The financial transaction noted in the complaint was verified by the investigative team,”
The material came to light through an unrelated criminal complaint against two former senior FBI officials that was unsealed on Friday.
One of the officials named in the case is Nikki Floris, who allegedly misrepresented to Congress what she knew about federal investigations involving Hunter Biden while serving on the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force.
During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023, Floris reportedly denied discussing investigations into Hunter Biden with other bureau personnel.
“I personally did not have any conversations,” Floris said.
However, emails included in the affidavit appear to show that she had received information concerning the December 2020 complaint involving the Los Angeles woman.
In one message to another FBI employee, Floris reportedly wrote, “Per our chat last week,” while forwarding information that another bureau employee had shared about the complaint.
The allegations surrounding Floris form part of the separate case against the former FBI officials. The documents do not, by themselves, establish the outcome of those allegations.
Hunter Biden has repeatedly challenged the authenticity of emails and photographs recovered from a laptop attributed to him. FBI agents and federal prosecutors, however, have testified in court to the reliability of evidence obtained from the device.
The laptop’s contents reportedly included tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photographs and numerous videos and other recordings. Some of the material depicted Hunter Biden in intimate situations involving strippers and prostitutes.
The documents also revisited earlier scrutiny of his relationships with women and his spending on sexual encounters. Federal investigators previously considered whether conduct involving women who travelled across state lines to engage in sex with him could warrant charges under the Mann Act, although those charges were not ultimately brought.
Instead, Hunter Biden faced federal tax and gun-related charges in 2023.
Hunter Biden’s legal troubles included a federal gun case stemming from his possession of a firearm while addicted to crack cocaine. In June 2024, a federal jury found him guilty of the charges.