Hunter Biden's criminal tax trial delayed to Sept. 5

[May 23, 2024]   WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - The start of the criminal tax trial for President Joe Biden's son was postponed until Sept. 5 from June 20, which Hunter Biden's legal team requested because of conflicts with a separate criminal trial in Delaware.

Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell had argued to U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles that the start of a trial on criminal gun charges in Delaware on June 3 created overlap with pretrial deadlines in the criminal tax case.

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs following a closed deposition with members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee conducting an impeachment inquiry into the president, at the O'Neill House Office Building in Washington, U.S., February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

In addition, Lowell said in court filings he has been pursuing two appeals after Scarsi and the judge in Delaware refused to dismiss the criminal indictments.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges in both criminal cases.

Hunter Biden next month will become the first child of a sitting president to go on trial in a felony case.

The Department of Justice charged Hunter Biden in December with failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019, while allegedly spending millions of dollars on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other big-ticket items.

He faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.

Hunter Biden has also been charged with three felonies in Delaware related to lying about his use of illegal drugs when he purchased a firearm in 2018. He faces up to 25 years on the gun charges.

The two trials come as Joe Biden ramps up his bid to remain in the White House in the Nov. 5 election.

Joe Biden's Republican opponent, former U.S. President Donald Trump, is in the midst of a criminal trial over hush money payments, with the jury scheduled to begin deliberations next week.

Trump is also facing three other criminal cases, although they may not go to trial before the election.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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