Hunter Biden indicted on nine tax-related charges, adding to gun charges in special counsel probe
Hunter Biden was indicted on nine tax charges in California on Thursday as a special counsel investigation into the business dealings of the president's son intensifies against the backdrop of the looming 2024 election.
Video above: Hunter Biden indicted on three gun charges
The new charges 바카라 게임 웹사이트 three felonies and six misdemeanors 바카라 게임 웹사이트 are in addition to federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging Hunter Biden broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018. They come after the implosion of a plea deal over the summer that would have spared him jail time, putting the case on track to a possible trial as his father campaigns for reelection.
Hunter Biden 바카라 게임 웹사이트spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,바카라 게임 웹사이트 special counsel David Weiss said in a statement. The charges are centered on at least $1.4 million in taxes Hunter Biden owed during between 2016 and 2019, a period where he has acknowledged struggling with addiction. The back taxes have since been paid.
If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 17 years in prison. The special counsel probe remains open, Weiss said.
In a fiery response, defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss of 바카라 게임 웹사이트bowing to Republican pressure" in the case.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter바카라 게임 웹사이트s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought," Lowell said in a statement.
The White House also declined to comment on Thursday's indictment, referring questions to the Justice Department or Hunter Biden바카라 게임 웹사이트s personal representatives.
The charging documents filed in California, where he lives, details spending on everything from drugs and girlfriends to luxury hotels and exotic cars, 바카라 게임 웹사이트in short, everything but his taxes," prosecutor Leo Wise wrote.
The indictment comes as congressional Republicans pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, claiming he was engaged in an influence-peddling scheme with his son. The House is expected to vote next week on formally authorizing the inquiry.
No evidence has emerged so far to prove that Joe Biden, in his current or previous office, abused his role or accepted bribes, though questions have arisen about the ethics surrounding the Biden family바카라 게임 웹사이트s international business.
The separate, long-running criminal investigation into Hunter Biden had been expected to wind down with a plea deal where he would have gotten two years' probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and avoided prosecution on the gun charge if he stayed out of trouble.
The agreement was pilloried as a 바카라 게임 웹사이트sweetheart deal바카라 게임 웹사이트 by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump. He is facing his own criminal cases, including charges that he the results of the 2020 election.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, gave credit for the new charges Thursday to two IRS agents who testified that the Justice Department had mishandled and 바카라 게임 웹사이트slow walked바카라 게임 웹사이트 the investigation into the president's son. Justice officials have denied those allegations.
The new charges against Hunter Biden include filing a false return and tax evasion felonies, as well as misdemeanor failure to file and failure to pay.
The defense signaled that it plans to fight the new charges, at least in part relying on immunity provisions from the original plea deal. Defense attorneys have argued those remain in force since that part of the agreement was signed by a prosecutor before the deal was scrapped.
Prosecutors disagree, pointing out the documents weren바카라 게임 웹사이트t signed by a judge and are invalid.
Lowell said he's also planning to push for dismissal of the gun charges next week, calling them 바카라 게임 웹사이트unprecedented and unconstitutional."
The three federal gun charges filed in Delaware allege Hunter Biden had lied about his drug use to buy a gun that he kept for 11 days in 2018. Federal law bans gun possession by 바카라 게임 웹사이트habitual drug users,바카라 게임 웹사이트 though the measure is seldom seen as a stand-alone charge and has been called into question by a federal appeals court.
Hunter Biden바카라 게임 웹사이트s longstanding struggle with substance abuse worsened after the death of his brother Beau Biden in 2015, according to court documents and his memoir 바카라 게임 웹사이트Beautiful Things," which ends with him getting clean in 2019.
His gross income nevertheless totaled some $7 million between 2016 and 2020, prosecutors said, pointing to his roles on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma and a Chinese private equity fund as well as his position at a law firm.
Hunter did eventually file his taxes in 2020, while facing a in Arkansas, and the back taxes were paid by a 바카라 게임 웹사이트third party,바카라 게임 웹사이트 prosecutors have previously said.