Joe Biden insisted throughout his 2020 presidential campaign — and has insisted throughout his time in the Oval Office — that wealthy Americans “pay their fair share” in taxes.
Around the same time, federal prosecutors allege in a nine-count indictment filed Thursday that Biden’s son Hunter dropped seven figures on “everything but his taxes.”
“Under my tax plan, nobody making under $400,000 will see their taxes go up,” Biden boasted on his campaign Twitter account in the final days of the 2020 campaign. “But it’s time for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.”
Former President Donald Trump, the Democratic challenger at the time said another timehas rejected huge tax cuts for his “rich friends” while in office.
Biden went on to contrast his predecessor’s economic policies with his own after winning the presidency, dismissing his approach as part of a large package of legal expenses which has been blamed for high price spikes for decades.
President Biden, throughout his 2020 campaign and during his tenure in the Oval Office, has demanded that wealthy Americans “pay their fair share” in taxes, after his son owed $1.4 million. AP The president’s son, Hunter Biden, in the years before taking office, avoided at least $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 — despite reporting nearly $7 million in income.
Earlier this year, the president went so far as to “ask the rich to pay less than their fair share” for his budget proposal, raising the Medicare tax rate on Americans — like himself — who earn more than $400,000 annually.
The effort has resonated with the progressive side of Biden’s party, with lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) often calls on the federal government to “tax the rich.”
But Hunter, prosecutors said, evaded at least $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 — despite reporting nearly $7 million in income during that period.
Former President Donald Trump, Biden said, rejected big tax cuts for his “rich friends” while in office. Reuters
Special counsel David Weiss brought three felony charges against the first son, alleging “four years [tax avoidance] scheme” fueled his “luxurious” lifestyle, according to a Los Angeles grand jury indictment.
That included lavish spending on “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothes, and other personal items, in short, everything but his taxes,” the 56-page document reads.
In four years, the first son withdrew more than $1.64 million in cash from ATMs, paid $683,212 to “various women” he was romantically involved with or who “performed personal services,” spent $397,530 on clothes and accessories and $188,960 on adult entertainment.
The effort has pleased the progressive side of Biden’s party, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called on the federal government to “tax the rich.” AFP via Getty Images
Some of those payments, prosecutors said, were falsely categorized as business expenses, such as $10,000 for a sex club membership that was relabeled as a “golf club membership.”
Hunter also spent some $71,869 on drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, according to a breakdown included in the indictment.
If convicted on all charges, the 53-year-old man faces up to 17 years in prison.
Special counsel David Weiss slapped the first son with nine counts of tax evasion on Thursday, claiming the “four-year scheme” fueled his “lavish” lifestyle. AP
Asked about the charges on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president “loves his son and supports him as he continues to rebuild his life” but will not forgive him if he is convicted.
“My father has been a senator since I was two years old,” Hunter Biden lamented in a podcast interview with noted vegan and noted techno DJ Moby released Friday. “He has been releasing his tax returns for decades. He has lived in the public light. We have lived in the public light. We’ve been through four presidential campaigns.
“My whole life has been in the public eye. It took until, lo and behold, oh, Donald Trump found out that somehow this was a criminal business,” he added. “I mean, it takes belief, but we’re sitting here and we’re talking about it. And I turned on ABC, ‘Face the Nation’ this morning and they were talking about, Hunter Biden’s plea deal and this, that and other things, and who knows what happened with James Comer and [what] they may find. are you kidding I mean, I’m really, like, we’re going to talk about Ukraine again, right? Really?”
Weiss also indicted Hunter in September on three counts of lying about his crack cocaine use on federal firearms purchase forms — charges for which he could have faced up to 25 years in prison.
In a statement Thursday, Biden’s defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, accused Weiss and his team of prosecutors of being “rebellious.”[d]” on a trial-only plea deal for both sets of charges.
“Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought,” Lowell said.
“Now, after five years of investigating without new evidence — and two years after Hunter paid his taxes in full — the US Attorney has piled on nine new charges when he agreed months ago to settle this matter with a pair of misdemeanors. “
The high-powered criminal lawyer said the gun charges were also evidence that Weiss “bowed to Republican pressure.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
