Hunter Biden, US President Joe Biden’s son, is due to appear in a Los Angeles federal court on Thursday where he is expected to plead not guilty to tax charges related to business dealings that also prompted his father’s impeachment, Reuters reports.
Hunter Biden, 53, is accused of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019. The son of the current US president spent millions of dollars on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other expensive items.
He faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted. Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said he paid taxes and is being prosecuted because of his famous last name. He is due to appear in court at 1pm Pacific Time (2100 GMT).
Hunter Biden, who has spoken publicly about his drug addiction, has never held a position in the White House or his father’s campaign. He has also pleaded not guilty in a separate federal case in Delaware in which he is accused of lying about his drug use in a gun purchase. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Federal prosecutor David Weiss brought both cases. He had been investigating since 2019 and was elevated to special prosecutor status last year. In the summer of 2023, a federal judge rejected a proposed plea deal. The Justice Department has said the investigation into Hunter Biden is ongoing.
Republicans in the US House of Representatives are seeking to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify behind closed doors in his father’s impeachment investigation. This could lead to new criminal charges.
Hunter Biden offered to testify publicly as part of the investigation, but lawmakers turned him down. He caused a stir on Capitol Hill on Wednesday by making a surprise appearance at a House hearing where lawmakers were considering contempt charges.
Republican investigators have focused on Hunter Biden’s work for companies in Ukraine and China when his father served as US vice president from 2009 to 2017. So far, they have found no evidence of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, although they have drawn attention to his son’s struggles with drug addiction.
In the tax case, prosecutors allege he earned more than $7 million between 2016 and 2019, including $2.3 million as a board member of the Ukrainian industrial conglomerate Burisma. He also served on the board of directors of Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC China Energy Co Ltd.
