Hunter Biden’s legal troubles are looking worse and worse. Late on Thursday, federal prosecutors in California hit the president’s son with nine charges for allegedly failing to pay taxes from his lobbying work abroad.
The indictment provides some new details on how Biden allegedly withheld money from the government. In the 56-page indictment, prosecutors claim that Biden improperly withdrew millions from his foreign lobbying firm Owasco and and splurged on “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.” He also failed to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes between 2016 and 2020. If convicted, he could face up to 17 years in prison.
Meanwhile, he was using company money to fund his lifestyle. Prosecutors state that between 2016 and 2020, Biden took out over $1.6 million from ATMs, and spent $400,000 on clothes and accessories and $683,212 for what the indictment describes as payments to “various women.” During this time period, he failed to pay child support and relied on friends like entertainment lawyer Kevin Morris to help with payments for his Porsche and rent in Los Angeles.
While the indictment paints a picture of a lavish spender and alleged tax cheat, it does not connect Hunter Biden’s conduct to his father in any way. Nor does a prior indictment from September, in which Hunter was charged with three felony counts in federal court for making a false statement while purchasing a firearm and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person. (The trial for that charge is scheduled to begin no earlier than February 2024.) But that does not seem to be stopping House Republicans from moving forward with an impeachment inquiry. In a statement following the indictment, House Ways and Means chair Jason Smith said that the charges “further confirm the need for Congress to move forward with an impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden in order to uncover all the facts for the American people to judge.” Another representative, Kelly Armstrong, also introduced a resolution on Thursday to call a full House vote to launch an impeachment inquiry, though it did not include a specific date for such a vote.
