Hunter Biden Indicted on 9 Tax Charges 12/08 06:11

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hunter Biden was indicted on nine tax charges in 
California on Thursday as a special counsel investigation into the business 
dealings of President Joe Biden's son intensifies against the backdrop of the 
looming 2024 election.

   The new charges -- three felonies and six misdemeanors -- 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 "spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather 
than paying his tax bills," 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, 53, could a maximum of 17 years in prison. The 
special counsel probe remains open, Weiss said.

   In a fiery response, defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss of "bowing 
to Republican pressure" in the case.

   "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," Lowell said in a statement.

   The White House declined to comment on Thursday's indictment, referring 
questions to the Justice Department or Hunter Biden's personal representatives.

   The charging documents filed in California, where he lives, details spending 
on everything from drugs and strippers to luxury hotels and exotic cars, "in 
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 family's 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 "sweetheart deal" by Republicans, including 
former President Donald Trump. He is facing his own criminal cases, including 
charges that he plotted to overturn 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 investigators who testified 
before Congress that the Justice Department had mishandled and "slow walked" 
the investigation into the president's son. Justice officials have denied those 
allegations.

   The two IRS employees, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, said the indictment 
was "a complete vindication of our thorough investigation."

   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, likely 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 have disagreed, pointing out the documents weren't 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 "unprecedented 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 "habitual drug users," though the measure is seldom seen 
as a stand-alone charge and has been called into question by a federal appeals 
court.

   Hunter Biden's longstanding struggle with substance abuse worsened after the 
death of his brother Beau Biden in 2015, according to court documents and his 
memoir "Beautiful 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 child-support 
case in Arkansas, and the back taxes were paid by a "third party," prosecutors 
have said in court documents.