LOS ANGELES — Welcome back to “The Surreal Life” starring Hunter Biden.
The first son pleaded not guilty Thursday to nine charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019 on foreign income that was the focus of a House impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden
Hunter, 53, fidgeted with the pen before being given a trial date of June 20 — right in the middle of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
He faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Judge Mark Scarsi, appointed by former President Donald Trump, presided over the roughly 30-minute hearing in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.
Hunter appeared in court without his so-called “sugar brother,” Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, or a camera crew for a long-promised documentary — which followed him Wednesday as he canceled a House committee debate on whether to hold him in contempt for refusing to show up for a deposition. Dec. 13
Hunter Biden leaves federal court in Los Angeles after pleading not guilty on Thursday. AP Hunter sat in the back of a black SUV driven by a Secret Service agent. GAC / MEGA
The president’s son, who lives in Malibu, slipped into his navy blue suit and told the judge solemnly, “Not guilty,” when Scarsi asked how he wanted to plead.
Scarsi imposed several standard conditions of pretrial release on Hunter, including no drug or alcohol use, no firearm possession and a requirement to obtain employment.
The judge also ordered the first son to submit his state and federal taxes, itemize his income and inform his case judges in both Los Angeles and Delaware if he has any travel plans.
Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said he needed more discovery from prosecutors — only for federal lawyers to counter that they had turned over three “substantial” sets of documents from a five-year investigation.
Lowell said that he intends to file various motions in the case, including those that “have to do with the IRS action.”
Hunter’s legal team has argued that the probation-only plea agreement remains in effect, even though his eldest son voided the agreement at a dramatic July court hearing in Delaware.
An SUV carrying President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden leaves the federal courthouse in Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. AP Media gather outside the courthouse where Hunter Biden is expected to arrive Thursday. Reuters
At the end of the court hearing, Scarsi asked the younger Biden to put his full name on the record. The first son stood up, looked at the judge and said, “Robert Hunter Biden.”
The first son flew back to California from Washington, DC, Wednesday night after surprising members of Congress with his surprise appearance before the House Oversight Committee, which is one of the panels leading the impeachment inquiry into his father for frequent interactions with foreign associates who pay members of the Biden family.
Hunter “spent millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to the 56-page California indictment filed last month, including payments for “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing . . , and other things of a personal nature, in short, everything except the taxes.”
The spending adds up to $1.64 million in ATM withdrawals, $683,212 for “payments to various women,” $397,530 for clothing and accessories and $188,960 for adult entertainment, among other line items.
Hunter also claimed false tax deductions for “negotiating” while making payments to “various women who were either romantically involved or otherwise performed personal services” for him, prosecutors alleged.
In one instance, Hunter also used a business line of credit to pay $27,000 to a porn site, “which in total accounted for one-fifth of all business line credit expenditures.”
Hunter Biden flew back to California from DC on Wednesday afternoon after a surprise appearance at the House Oversight Committee. Reuters
In his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” Hunter recounted his descent into alcoholism and drug addiction — particularly crack cocaine — after the 2015 death of his brother, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.
Kevin Morris, a Hollywood lawyer who successfully negotiated a licensing deal on behalf of “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, stepped in to finance Hunter in an effort to have the tax charges dismissed after meeting him for the first time at a late 2019 political fundraiser.
In an email on Feb. 7, 2020 — about two months after they met — Morris contacted the accountants on Hunter’s behalf to warn them to work quickly because of “significant personal and political risk.”
Morris reportedly gave Hunter at least $4.9 million over three years to cover back taxes and living expenses. Republican critics questioned whether the largesse was a de facto campaign contribution to the elder Biden.
The first son arrived in court for a sentencing hearing on Thursday. AP
Morris also financed a documentary about the first child to contrast Hunter’s luxurious life as a middle-aged artist with the ongoing criminal and congressional investigations into his past.
The first son abandoned a deal that would have covered tax and gun offenses at his request for courtroom assurances that he has broad immunity for other past conduct, including possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which could implicate him. father
Hunter’s decision to renege on his plea deal came after Delaware federal Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned the terms of the arrangement, in which prosecutors refused to certify the first child as having blanket immunity, even though Hunter insisted that was the deal — a position that appeared to be. supported by subsequent releases of legal side agreements.
The first boy in the car looked down and left the court. Hunter pleaded not guilty in October to three federal firearms charges filed in Delaware after he rejected what critics criticized as a “sweetheart” plea deal.
Hunter pleaded not guilty in October to three federal firearms charges filed in Delaware after he rejected what critics criticized as a “sweetheart” plea deal.
Foreign funds flow from countries such as China, where Hunter is involved in two major ventures with state-backed companies, and Ukraine, where he earned up to $1 million a year starting in 2014, when his father as vice president led US policy toward the country.
The first son thumbed his nose at House Republicans a day before the trial in California with his presence on Capitol Hill, where the Oversight Committee met to consider contempt of Congress, itself a crime punishable by at least 30 days in jail.
Law enforcement officers patrolled the courthouse with a dog on Thursday. AP
A House panel had subpoenaed Hunter on Nov. 8 to appear for a deposition the following month and testify about his foreign deals — but he declined the request and instead addressed the press outside the Capitol, where he claimed his father was not “financially” involved in his business.
House Republicans say that Hunter sold access to his father and is investigating Joe Biden for interacting with many of his son’s foreign partners as well as James Biden’s first brother.
The impeachment inquiry is also looking into an alleged cover-up by the Justice Department to protect Joe and Hunter Biden in the five-year tax probe.
IRS supervisor Gary Shapley, who oversaw the three-year investigation, and case agent Joseph Ziegler, who worked on the five-year probe, told Congress last year that Justice Department leaders misled Congress about the investigation, telling Hunter’s legal team for investigative steps, no sharing investigative evidence and leads and prohibiting the investigation of Joe Biden, even when the communications directly implicate him in the matter.
Hunter Biden appeared for alleged tax evasion on foreign income. Getty Images
In one widely cited example, Shapley and Ziegler said they were not allowed to obtain cell phone location data that could prove Joe Biden was with his son in July 2017 when Hunter sent a threatening text message to a businessman connected to the Chinese government saying, “I am sitting in here with my father” and a warning of retaliation.
Within 10 days of the message, $5.1 million flowed into accounts linked to Hunter and James Biden from CEFC China Energy — after the $1 million mark earlier in the year, less than two months after Joe Biden left office as vice president.
A May 2017 email written in Joe Biden, referred to as “the big guy”, for a 10% cut from the CEFC deal.
The IRS whistleblower also said that Attorney General Merrick Garland misled Congress under oath about the ability of Delaware US Attorney David Weiss to independently bring charges against the first son.
Biden-appointed US attorneys in Los Angeles and Washington have confirmed they are refusing to cooperate with Weiss, who in August was elevated by Garland to special counsel status so she could refile the case.
The impeachment inquiry is also looking into an alleged cover-up by the Justice Department to protect Joe and Hunter Biden in the five-year tax probe. Reuters
Critics have questioned Weiss’ decision not to press charges under FARA and his office’s alleged actions to allow Hunter to run out the statute of limitations on the old tax charges.
Hunter’s decision to renege on his plea deal came after Delaware federal Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned the terms of the arrangement, in which prosecutors refused to certify the first child as having blanket immunity, even though Hunter insisted that was the deal — a position that appeared to be. supported by subsequent releases of legal side agreements.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
