Hunter Biden arrives at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware, in June during his trial on felony firearms charges.
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President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is on trial for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes despite spending millions on what prosecutors call a “lavish lifestyle.”
The trial, which begins with jury selection on Thursday in federal court in downtown Los Angeles, comes three months after Hunter Biden was convicted of a felony firearms offense in Delaware. Both cases were brought by Department of Justice special counsel David Weiss.
The two federal criminal indictments against Hunter Biden have shone a spotlight on sordid details of his life during his years as a crack cocaine addict, and the charges were once seen as a potential political liability for President Biden in the midst of his tough 2024 reelection campaign.
The political impact of his son’s legal troubles has faded now that Biden is no longer seeking reelection. But the trial could unearth more painful and embarrassing details from one of the darkest periods of Hunter Biden’s life. Despite the possibility of him receiving a pardon from his father, he remains in legal jeopardy.
President Biden previously said he would not pardon his son, but that was before he dropped out of the presidential race. It’s unclear whether his previous statements still stand now that he’s no longer running for president.
Hunter Biden faces nine charges in the Los Angeles case, including three felony counts of tax evasion and filing false tax returns. He has pleaded not guilty.
“Luxurious lifestyle”
Prosecutors allege that Hunter Biden failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019, despite having gross income of more than $7 million between 2016 and 2020.
Instead, prosecutors allege Biden spent millions on an “extravagant lifestyle.”
“The defendants spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, luxury cars, clothing and other personal items — everything but taxes,” according to the indictment.
The period of the alleged crimes coincides with the time period when Hunter Biden struggled with a crack cocaine addiction following the death of his brother, Beau Biden.
He also allegedly reported personal expenses as business expenses to reduce his tax liability.
The indictment includes a lengthy list of business expenses that Biden allegedly falsely claimed, including $11,500 to an escort for two nights with Hunter Biden, tens of thousands of dollars in luxury hotel bills to care for his crack addiction, nearly $20,000 in rent for a New York home for one of his daughters, and about $27,000 to online pornography sites.
Biden’s struggles were at the center of his first federal trial in Delaware this summer, when he was convicted of lying about his crack cocaine addiction on a background check while buying a gun in 2018.
A ruling in the case is scheduled for November 13th.
Almost avoided court
A year ago, Hunter Biden seemed on the verge of avoiding a trial altogether.
He had reached a tentative agreement with prosecutors in which he would plead guilty to tax charges and enter into a diversion agreement for the firearms offense, which would suspend criminal proceedings as long as he met certain conditions. The agreement would have allowed him to avoid a trial.
But the deal collapsed before a federal judge in Delaware who expressed concerns about the agreement’s structure, and Biden’s lawyers and prosecutors were unable to salvage it.
A few weeks later, Weiss was appointed special counsel and her team brought two cases against the president’s son.
