Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to tax fraud charges
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[January 12, 2024]
By Chris Kirkham
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden
pleaded not guilty on Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles to tax
charges stemming from business dealings that have also prompted an
impeachment probe of his father.
Hunter Biden, 53, stands criminally accused of failing to pay $1.4
million in taxes between 2016 and 2019, while spending millions of
dollars on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other high-ticket items.
He faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.
Wearing a navy blue suit and tie, he responded "not guilty" when U.S.
District Judge Mark Scarsi asked how he would plead in the case.
Scarsi set a trial date of June 20.
Biden did not address news crews or protesters waiting outside the
courthouse after the hearing. A federal motorcade left the building via
a rear exit.
Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell has said his client had paid his back taxes
and is being persecuted because of his famous last name.
The president's son, who has publicly discussed his substance abuse, has
never held a position in the White House or on his father's campaign.
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He also has pleaded not guilty in a separate federal case in Delaware in
which he is charged with lying about his illegal drug use when he bought
a gun. Those charges carry up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Both cases were brought by federal prosecutor David Weiss, who has been
investigating him since 2019 and was last year elevated to the status of
special prosecutor. A federal judge rejected a proposed plea deal last
summer. The Justice Department has said the investigation into Hunter
Biden is ongoing.
U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are pushing to hold Hunter
Biden in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify behind closed
doors in their impeachment inquiry of his father. That has the potential
to trigger more criminal charges.
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![](../images/011224PIX/news_a24.jpg)
Federal police officers and security personnel stand inside a
federal court on the day Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe
Biden, makes his initial court appearance on tax charges, in Los
Angeles, California, U.S., January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Hunter Biden has offered to testify in public in the probe, but
lawmakers rebuffed him. He caused a ruckus on Capitol Hill on
Wednesday when he unexpectedly showed up at a House hearing where
lawmakers were considering the contempt charges.
Republican investigators have focused on Hunter Biden's work for
businesses in Ukraine and China while his father served as U.S. vice
president from 2009 to 2017. So far they have turned up no evidence
of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, even as they have highlighted his
son's struggles with substance abuse.
In the tax case, prosecutors have said he earned more than $7
million between 2016 and 2019, including $2.3 million from his
position on the board of directors of Burisma, a Ukrainian
industrial conglomerate. He also served on the board of CEFC China
Energy Co Ltd, a Chinese energy conglomerate.
A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday found that 44% of
U.S. adults think the prosecution of Hunter Biden is politically
motivated, while 33% do not. At the same time, 56% think he is
receiving favorable treatment from prosecutors.
(Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Writing by Andy Sullivan;
Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham and Deepa Babington)
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