Hunter Biden has been indicted on tax charges in California, marking his second indictment from Special Counsel David Weiss. The charges include three felony counts of tax evasion and filing a false return, as well as six misdemeanor charges for failure to pay taxes between 2016 and 2019. If convicted, Biden could face up to 17 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Biden engaged in a four-year scheme to evade paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes and filed false returns in 2018. These charges come amidst mounting scrutiny over his financial dealings and congressional inquiries into his business activities.
Earlier this year, a plea deal involving Biden fell apart when disagreements arose over the extent of his immunity from further prosecution. Weiss subsequently filed charges in Delaware related to Biden’s purchase of a firearm while denying drug use, which later contradicted his public admission. The current charges in California address the complaints raised by two IRS whistleblowers who claimed that Weiss’s team mishandled the prosecution and failed to pursue stronger evidence of tax crimes in various locations.
As the House prepares to formalize its impeachment inquiry into President Biden, part of the investigation will review Weiss’s handling of the Hunter Biden case. These recent charges serve as a nod to the concerns raised and suggest that additional charges may be forthcoming.
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Hunter Biden has been charged with tax crimes in California, his second indictment from Special Counsel David Weiss as he faces mounting scrutiny over his financial dealings.
Hunter Biden will face three felony tax charges in relation to tax evasion and filing a false return, as well as six misdemeanor charges for failure to pay taxes between 2016 and 2019.
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, prosecutors wrote in a Thursday night press release.
Together, the charges carry up to 17 years in prison upon conviction and come as Hunter Biden is facing congressional scrutiny over his business dealings and a subpoena for a deposition next week in connection with their impeachment inquiry.
The charges follow the evaporation of a plea deal earlier this year in which Biden was set to plead guilty to willful failure to pay taxes as well as enter a diversion program in connection with a gun crime.
But the deal fell apart as Weiss and attorneys for Biden came before a Delaware judge who would need to approve the deal, at odds over the extent the president’s son would be immune to further prosecution.
Weiss, also the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, has since filed charges in that state on three counts related to Biden’s purchase of a firearm while denying drug use he later acknowledged publicly, speaking in his book and elsewhere about his battles with addiction.
The charges for Biden come as the House is preparing to take a vote to formalize their impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Part of their probe reviews Weiss’s investigation of Hunter Biden following claims from two IRS whistleblowers that the special counsel’s team mismanaged the prosecution and slow-walked the case.
IRS investigators Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler said they found stronger evidence of tax crimes in California and Washington, D.C., expressing frustration those weren’t more zealously pursued by Weiss’s team.
Thursday’s charges nod to those complaints and come after Weiss indicated in court filings in the Delaware case that additional charges could be coming.
