Hunter Biden charged with failure to file and pay taxes, faces 17 years in prison if convicted
Washington (CNN) — Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has been charged in connection with a long-running Justice Department investigation into his taxes – the second criminal case that special counsel David Weiss has brought against him. The charges span nine counts, including failure to file and pay taxes; evasion of assessment; and false or fraudulent tax return. CNN was first to report a new criminal case had been filed.
According to the special counsel’s team, Hunter Biden “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million” in taxes that he owed from 2016 through 2019. Prosecutors also allege that he “subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company” by withdrawing millions of dollars outside of its payroll and tax withholding process. The president’s son “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to the indictment, which states that “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.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that “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.”
The case had been close to being resolved in July when a plea deal fell apart. The new tax case stems from Hunter Biden’s lucrative overseas business dealings – including his involvement with Ukrainian energy company Burisma and a Chinese private equity fund – which are at the center of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
Federal prosecutors have been scrutinizing Hunter Biden’s finances since 2018, and Trump-appointed US attorney David Weiss was designated special counsel in August. The probe appeared to be winding down this summer when Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors, and prosecutors would recommend no jail time. But both proposed deals collapsed after scrutiny from a federal judge and disagreements over the fine print.
Hunter Biden previously accused Weiss of “bending to political pressure” from Republicans and said that his actions “present a grave threat to our system of justice.” One of the reasons Republicans have attacked Weiss is because of testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who were involved in the probe and said they witnessed political interference by the Justice Department. The whistleblowers said career IRS agents recommended felony tax charges against Hunter Biden in early 2022. Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland have refuted the whistleblowers’ claims.
Hunter Biden made millions of dollars from private equity deals, corporate consulting, and legal fees in Ukraine, China, Romania, and other countries. Prosecutors previously said he had the money to buy luxury items like a Porsche and was warned about his looming tax bills by accountants and associates – but still missed the IRS deadlines.
To date, federal prosecutors have never offered any evidence backing up GOP claims that Joe Biden was in business with his son or abused his powers to enrich his family. This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.