Hunter Biden faces 9 tax-related charges
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Federal prosecutors indicted the president’s son, Hunter Biden, on nine charges for allegedly withholding $1.4 million in taxes over four years.
These charges include three felonies, the Justice Department said in a press release on Thursday. They were brought by Special Counsel David Weiss and filed in California.
The 56-page indictment alleges Hunter Biden failed to pay taxes from 2016 to 2019 and filed his tax return in late 2017 and 2018. When he did file his return for 2018, Biden allegedly included false business deductions. Prosecutors say instead of paying his taxes, Hunter Biden spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle.
He faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison if convicted, although typically the sentence is less than the upper limit.
His attorney, Abbe Lowell, said, “Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought,” according to The Hill.
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This is Hunter Biden’s second indictment. The first set of gun-related criminal charges were filed in Delaware in mid-September, by Weiss, who has been investigating the president’s son since 2019.
Weiss has indicated the investigation is ongoing. The latest charges mark the second time Biden faces charges related to his taxes. Over the summer, he had entered a plea deal with the Justice Department, where he agreed to plead guilty to two tax-related misdemeanor charges while receiving a deferment on a felony firearms charge. But the deal collapsed after Weiss was appointed as special counsel in August.
The latest indictment notes Biden’s failure to pay tax on the income he earned in Ukraine while serving on Burisma’s board and in China through a private equity firm. These foreign business deals are also being investigated by House Republicans, who allege President Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s dealings. They are contemplating introducing a vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, something that House Speaker Mike Johnson has also shown an interest in.
On the possibility of an impeachment inquiry, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said, “Marjorie Taylor Greene may be clamoring for the House to proceed to impeachment, but numerous House Republicans have already gone on record that the evidence just doesn’t back it up,” as MSNBC reporter Kyle Griffin posted on X.
