Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to federal tax charges
Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has entered a plea of not guilty to tax offenses in a California federal court.
Last month, he was formally charged with nine criminal counts, including the alleged failure to timely pay taxes from 2016 to 2019, filing false tax returns in 2018, and tax evasion.
If convicted, Hunter Biden could potentially face a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. In addition to the tax charges, he is also confronting federal charges related to felony gun offenses, to which he has already pleaded not guilty.
Appearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, the 53-year-old Biden, surrounded by a throng of cameras and preceded by a security sweep conducted by US Secret Service officers, participated in his first hearing for the tax case on Thursday afternoon.
Bypassing the press through a rear entrance, he sat quietly at the defense desk flanked by his legal team. His attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
Hunter Biden, a father of four, was granted release without detention under specific conditions, including prohibitions on consuming alcohol or drugs, maintaining employment, and acquiring firearms.
The judge cautioned that any violation of these terms could result in an arrest warrant, potentially leading to imprisonment.
This development is part of a five-year-long investigation by federal prosecutors into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings.
Earlier in the summer, there were indications of a potential plea deal that would involve an admission of guilt regarding tax offenses, participation in drug treatment, and monitoring for two years to address gun-related charges, all without serving jail time.
However, the proposed agreement faced criticism from Republicans and ultimately collapsed under judicial scrutiny.
Subsequently, Hunter Biden was indicted in Delaware in September on three charges linked to his alleged illegal acquisition of a firearm in 2018.
According to the 56-page charge sheet filed against Mr. Biden in December over his tax charges, he made more than $7m (£5.5m) in gross income between 2016 and 2020 from business dealings in Ukraine and related to connections from Romania and China.
Prosecutors say Mr Biden “wilfully” failed to either pay or file his taxes to the Internal Revenue Service from 2016 to 2019, instead spending his money on personal extravagances.
“Between 2016 and Oct 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 document states.
Both the tax and gun charges span a period when Mr Biden was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine.
In his memoir Beautiful Things, he wrote that he had abused substances to cope with the grief of losing his older brother Beau to brain cancer in 2015.
Since then, Mr Biden says he has become sober.
He has also paid off all his tax debts, including penalties and interest, largely with the help of loans from Kevin Morris, a close friend and LA-based entertainment attorney.
But Mr Biden’s latest indictment presents a fresh challenge to his father, who is seeking re-election to the White House later this year.
The collapse of his plea deal has all but ensured Mr. Biden will face a criminal trial while President Biden is on the 2024 campaign trail.
Congressional Republicans are also investigating the younger Biden’s finances as part of their impeachment inquiry into the president.
They have alleged that Mr Biden and his relatives improperly profited off his father’s “brand” during Joe Biden’s vice presidency. The inquiry has yet to provide evidence that directly implicates the president of wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, two Republican-led panels voted to recommend that Mr Biden be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify behind closed doors in their impeachment probe.
But the president’s son and his lead defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell, threw the House oversight committee room into chaos when he showed up as the panel began debating the contempt resolution.
“Hunter Biden was and is a private citizen,” Mr Lowell told reporters after leaving the room. “Despite this, Republicans have sought to use him as a surrogate to attack his father.”
In an MSNBC interview broadcast on Thursday morning, First Lady Jill Biden said: “I think what they are doing to Hunter is cruel, and I’m proud of how Hunter has rebuilt his life after addiction.”
