What to Know
- Hunter Biden entered a not-guilty plea to nine tax-related charges during a court appearance Thursday in downtown Los Angeles.
- The indictment accuses President Biden's son of failing to pay taxes, failing to file, evading an assessment and filing a fraudulent form.
- He was previously expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that fell apart over the summer.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty Thursday in Los Angeles during a hearing on the federal tax charges filed against him last month.
A trial date was set for June 20 in Los Angeles.
President Joe Biden's son entered the plea to nine tax-related charges during his initial court appearance in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.
The 53-year-old Biden, who has a residence in Malibu, was charged with three felony and six misdemeanor counts in the 56-page indictment. He could face up to 17 years in prison, if convicted on all charges.
He is accused in the indictment of failing to pay taxes, failing to file, evading an assessment and filing a fraudulent form.
"According to the indictment, Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme in which he chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns," special counsel and U.S. Attorney David Weiss' office said in a news release when the charges were filed.
Hunter Biden eventually filed taxes in 2020 with back taxes paid by a “third party” the following year, prosecutors said.
Weiss was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland, a move that gives him increased authorities in overseeing the federal investigation into Biden. A special counsel is usually appointed to handle cases that the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to be in the public interest to have someone outside the government lead the process.
The inquiry into Hunter Biden's business dealings has so far not uncovered evidence directly implicating the president in wrongdoing connected to his son's activities. Biden attorney Abbe Lowell has said the prosecution overseen by Weiss, a U.S. Attorney's Office appointee of former President Trump, is politically motivated.
The indictment on tax-related charges alleges that Biden "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, which does not appear to mention President Biden, claims that Biden misled accountants into filing tax returns that had items marked as business expenses when he allegedly was not doing business at the time.
Biden was previously expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, but that agreement was dropped in July after a judge raised questions. In exchange for pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges, Biden would have received two years of probation rather than jail time.
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, appointed by former President Donald Trump, presided over Thursday's hearing.
Thursday's court appearance comes a day after Biden's surprise appearance on Capitol Hill, where Republicans were taking the first step to hold him in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena. Biden sat with his legal team, including Lowell, in the audience at the Overnight Committee meeting.
One member of the panel, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, demanded that Biden be arrested. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called Biden a coward as he left.
That committee and the Judiciary committee are set to vote on contempt resolutions. Members recommended he be held in contempt for not complying with a subpoena to sit for a closed-door deposition as part of the panel's impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Hunter Biden has said he's willing to testify publicly, but not behind closed doors.
Biden also was indicted on federal gun charges in September in Delaware. He pleaded not guilty in that case.
Also Thursday, closing arguments are scheduled in the civil business fraud trial of former President Trump, two of his sons and their company, the Trump Organization.
