Hunter Biden is expected to be arraigned on Thursday on federal tax charges in a Los Angeles courthouse.
Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is expected to plead not guilty to nine tax-related charges that were filed in December. Three of the charges faced by Joe Biden’s son are felony counts, and he could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty.
“The defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4m in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” the 56-page indictment said, adding that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”.
Outside the Los Angeles federal courthouse on Thursday afternoon, a line of dozens of reporters and TV cameras stretched along the sidewalk awaiting Biden’s arrival. A handful of passersby stopped to watch the scene unfold. Nearby, a man with a bullhorn stood chanting “USA” and “Hunter Biden’s laptop”.
On Wednesday the younger Biden surprised members of the House of Representatives in Washington when he showed up for a hearing in which Republican lawmakers sought to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify. Democrats pointed out that Hunter Biden did offer to testify in public.
The California arraignment will be more procedural than Wednesday’s political theater, in which he will formally enter his plea after hearing the full account of his tax charges. The court appearance will also include a discussion over future court dates and filing deadlines.
Elsewhere, Hunter Biden is battling a separate case in Delaware. The president’s son has been charged with unlawfully obtaining a revolver by lying on a form about his drug use. He was addicted to crack cocaine at the time. He is also accused of possessing the gun illegally and has pleaded not guilty in that case.
The accusations stem from a years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden‘s tax and business dealings that had been expected to wind down over the summer with a plea deal that would have given him two years’ probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges. He also would have avoided prosecution on the gun charge if he stayed out of trouble. The deal, which was pilloried by Republicans, unravelled in July.
Now, the tax and gun cases are moving ahead as part of an unprecedented confluence of political and legal drama: as the 2024 election looms, the US justice department is actively prosecuting both the president’s son and Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, who is facing 91 charges in four separate criminal cases.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
