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The US Department of Justice has charged Hunter Biden with nine federal tax offences, including tax evasion, adding to the legal troubles of the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election year.
The indictment was handed down by a grand jury and filed in federal court in California by special counsel David Weiss, who was appointed by attorney-general Merrick Garland to probe Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
Prosecutors said Hunter Biden failed to pay at least $1.4mn of federal taxes for the years between 2016 and 2019, a period that covered Joe Biden’s last year as vice-president and the start of his 2020 presidential campaign.
The DoJ said Hunter Biden had “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills” and “willfully failed” to pay taxes on time for four years “despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes”.
“Between 2016 and October 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 indictment said.
It also said Hunter Biden had included “false business deductions” on his 2018 tax return to “reduce the very substantial tax liability he faced as of February 2020”.
The indictment returned on Thursday is the second to hit Hunter Biden this year after the DoJ charged him with illegal gun possession in September. Hunter Biden had reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors earlier this year related to both the gun and tax probes, but it collapsed, paving the way for Weiss to bring the charges.
The justice department said if he were convicted on the tax offences, Hunter Biden could face a maximum of 17 years in prison.
Thursday’s indictment will be a blow to President Biden as he seeks re-election in 2024, with just 37.6 per cent of Americans approving of his performance in office, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling average.
While his likely Republican opponent Donald Trump will be consumed by his own legal troubles, as he is facing 91 criminal charges in Florida, Georgia, New York and Washington DC, the criminal proceedings against a close member of the president’s family could hurt the Democrat’s prospects.
The White House referred questions about the tax charges to the DoJ and Hunter Biden’s representatives.
Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, said: “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.”
Hunter Biden, 57, is Joe Biden’s second son from his first marriage and his only living son after the death of Beau Biden, the former attorney-general of Delaware. Hunter Biden has struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism at various stages of his life, but Joe Biden has always stood by his side.
Over the years, Hunter Biden has also had international business interests, including in Ukraine and China, that have been political liabilities for the US president, exposing him to attacks from Republicans.
The new indictment comes ahead of an expected vote in the House of Representatives as early as next week to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden based on his family’s business dealings.
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