Hunter Biden, son of the US president, pleads not guilty to tax fraud

This is a very cumbersome process for Joe Biden. The son of the American president, Hunter, will appear this Thursday in Los Angeles on charges of tax fraud – an awkward case for the White House tenant, who is preparing for a new bitter duel with Donald Trump. He pleads not guilty, American media reported.

Hunter Biden, 53, a businessman who now paints and says he has overcome addictions to drugs and alcohol, is one of the favorite targets of his father’s Republican opponents, who see him as the Democratic president’s Achilles heel. In December, he was charged with evading, through a “scheme,” $1.4 million in taxes owed for tax years from 2016 to 2019, and he was summoned to appear on nine counts, according to prosecutors.

The appearance in Los Angeles came a day after a parliamentary hearing turned public in Washington when Hunter Biden unexpectedly invited himself there to protest the position of Republicans who began impeachment proceedings against the US president in September. the president. The latter accuse Joe Biden, without yet providing evidence, of corruption and that he profited from his son’s controversial affairs in Ukraine and China when he was Barack Obama’s vice president (2009-2017). “Let me make this as clear as possible: my father has never had any financial involvement in my affairs,” Hunter Biden assured Congress in a serious tone on December 13.

“Extravagant Lifestyle”

On Wednesday, two congressional committees dominated by the Republican majority in the House recommended that he be found guilty of obstructing Congress’ investigative prerogatives for refusing to participate in closed hearings about his financial interests in “the stranger.” It requires public hearings.

During one hearing, one Republican elected official called Hunter Biden a “coward” after showing lewd photos of him, while another called him “the embodiment of white privilege.” “What they are doing to Hunter is cruel,” Jill Biden, the wife of the American president, responded in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday. On the tax front, the courts accuse him of “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle in lieu of paying taxes,” according to the indictment, which cites his drug use as well as payments to maintain an “escort” company. , luxury cars and clothing.

Hunter Biden faces up to 17 years in prison in this case. He also faces charges in another case in Delaware (East) for illegal possession of a firearm. So he could potentially be tried twice in 2024 while his father campaigns for re-election. In June, he entered into a plea agreement covering both tax evasion and illegal firearms charges that likely would have allowed him to avoid prison and an embarrassing trial for him and his father. But that agreement was scrapped due to doubts raised in July by a judge about its validity.