Hunter Biden hit with 9 tax-related charges in new indictment

Hunter
Biden has
been
indicted
on
nine
tax-related
charges,
including
three
felony
counts,
according
to
court
documents
filed
Thursday
in
a
federal
court
in
Los
Angeles.

The
56-page
court
filing
laid
out
a
series
of
charges,
including
allegations
that
the
president’s
son
failed
to pay
taxes,
failed
to
file,
evaded
an
assessment
and
filed
a
fraudulent
form.
The
indictment
alleges
that
“rather
than
pay
his
taxes,
the
Defendant
spent
millions
of
dollars
on
an
extravagant
lifestyle.”

“Between
2016
and
October
15,
2020,
the
Defendant
spent
this
money
on
drugs,
escorts
and
girlfriends,
luxury
hotels
and
rental
properties,
exotic
cars,
clothing,
and
other
items
of
a
personal
nature,
in
short,
everything
but
his
taxes,”
the
indictment
said.

The
charges,
which
include
six
misdemeanor
tax
offenses,
were
brought
by
special
counsel
David
Weiss.
The
case
was
assigned
to
Judge
Mark
Scarsi,
who
was
appointed
by
former
President Donald
Trump.

The
maximum
penalty
the
president’s
son
could
face
if
convicted
is
17
years
in
prison,
according
to
Weiss’
office.

“According
to
the
indictment,
Hunter
Biden
engaged
in
a
four-year
scheme
in
which
he
chose
not
to
pay
at
least
$1.4
million
in
self-assessed
federal
taxes
he
owed
for
tax
years
2016
through
2019
and
to
evade
the
assessment
of
taxes
for
tax
year
2018
when
he
filed
false
returns,”
Weiss’
office
said
in
a
news
release.

The
White
House
declined
to
comment
on
the
charges
and
referred
NBC
News
to
Hunter
Biden’s
personal
attorneys
as
well
as
the
Justice
Department.

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Hunter
Biden
attorney
Abbe
Lowell said
in
a
statement
that
if
the
president’s
son’s
“last
name
was
anything
other
than
Biden,
the
charges
in
Delaware,
and
now
California,
would
not
have
been
brought.”

“I
wrote
U.S.
Attorney
Weiss
days
ago
seeking
a
customary
meeting
to
discuss
this
investigation.
The
response
was
media
leaks
today
that
these
charges
were
being
filed,”
said
Lowell.

“All
these
issues
will
now
be
addressed
in
various
courts,
the
first
to
occur
this
Monday
when
the
prosecutors
knew
our
motions
to
dismiss
their
first
set
of
questionable
charges
would
be
filed,”
he
added.

A
White
House
official
said
they
learned
of
the
charges
from
public
reporting
and
did
not
have
advanced
notice.

The
indictment
does
not
appear
to
reference
President
Biden
or
his
role
as
president
or
vice
president.

The
additional
charges
against
the
president’s
son
mark
a
significant
development
in
a
federal
investigation
that
has
drawn
scrutiny
from
congressional
Republicans,
who
have
seized
on
Hunter
Biden’s
legal
woes
as
rhetorical
ammunition
against
his
father.
House
Republicans
subpoenaed
Hunter
Biden
in
November,
and
his
legal
team
has
said
that
he’s
open
to testifying publicly
before
the
House
Oversight
Committee
next
week.

“The
first
sweetheart
deal
came
after
whistleblowers
came
forward,”
said
a
source
familiar
with
the
House
GOP
investigation
into
Hunter
Biden.
“Now
Weiss
files
charges
on
[the]
eve
of
Hunter
Biden
testimony
and
after
the whistleblowers
testified
again.
No
such
thing
as
a
coincidence
in
Washington.”

In
July,
Hunter
Biden
pleaded not
guilty to
federal
tax
charges
following
the collapse of
a
plea
deal.
A
federal
judge dismissed the
misdemeanor
charges
in
August.
He
had
originally
been
expected
to
plead guilty to
two
federal
misdemeanor
counts
of
failing
to
pay
taxes.

Hunter
Biden
was
indicted
on
federal
gun
charges
in
September related to
the
president’s
son
being
in
possession
of
a
gun
while
using
narcotics.
Two
of
the
counts
allege
that
Biden
completed
a
form
saying
he
was
not
using
illegal
drugs
when
he
bought
a
gun.
Another
count
asserts
that
he
possessed
a
firearm
while
using
a
narcotic.
He
pleaded not
guilty.

Lowell
claimed
in
his
statement
Thursday
that
Weiss
had
“bowed
to
Republican
pressure
to
file
unprecedented
and
unconstitutional
gun
charges.”

Attorney
General
Merrick
Garland
appointed
Weiss
as
special
counsel
in
August
to
oversee
the
investigation
into
Hunter
Biden.

“As
special
counsel,
he
will
continue
to
have
the
authority
and
responsibility
that
he
has
previously
exercised
to
oversee
the
investigation
and
decide
where,
when
and
whether
to
file
charges,”
Garland
said
when
announcing
Weiss’
appointment.
“The
special
counsel
will
not
be
subject
to
the
day-to-day
supervision
of
any
official
of
the
Department,
but
he
must
comply
with
the
regulations,
procedures,
and
policies
of
the
Department.”

Weiss
was nominated by
Trump
in
2017
and
started
serving
as
U.S.
attorney
in
Delaware
the
next
year.
He
remained
in
office
through
the
start
of
the
Biden
administration,
even
as
most
U.S.
attorneys
appointed
during
the
Trump
administration
were
asked
to resign.

On
Monday,
Weiss
asked
a
federal
judge
to deny Hunter
Biden’s
request
to
subpoena
Trump,
former
Attorney
General
William
Barr
and
other
Trump
administration
officials.

“His
allegations
and
subpoena
requests
focus
on
likely
inadmissible,
far-reaching,
and
non-specific
categories
of
documents
concerning
the
actions
and
motives
of
individuals
who
did
not
make
the
relevant
prosecutorial
decision
in
his
case,”
Weiss’
team
said.

President
Biden
is
expected
to
attend
fundraisers
this
weekend
in
Los
Angeles,
the
city
where
the
charges
against
his
son
were
filed.
The
trip
was
planned
long
before
Thursday’s
indictment.