A day before his court appearance, Hunter Biden made an unexpected appearance on Capitol Hill
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Hunter Biden, center, sits with his lawyers — Kevin Morris, left, and Abbe Lowell, right — during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 10. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Both the House Oversight and House Judiciary committees, which subpoenaed the president’s son for his testimony as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, held separate markups of the contempt resolution.
Hunter Biden walked through the halls of Congress with his lawyers outside the Oversight Committee hearing, creating a tumultuous scene inside and outside the committee room as lawmakers debated what to do. He entered the committee room and sat down for around 10 minutes before departing.
The allegations at the core of the Republican-led investigation stem from unproven claims that the president was involved in or financially benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings, making the president’s son a crucial witness for their probe.
Hunter Biden’s appearance is part of a more aggressive, forward-leaning strategy that his legal team, led by lawyers Lowell and Kevin Morris, has adopted to confront his detractors. The lawyers are aware that despite Congress holding a contempt vote against him as early as next week, they have few – if any – ways to enforce a punishment. Biden’s ability to hold off congressional testimony has become even greater in recent weeks, because he now faces both criminal tax and gun charges, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The stop on Capitol Hill came a day before his expected federal court appearance in his criminal tax case today in Los Angeles.
31 min ago
Hunter Biden is facing 9 criminal charges in his federal tax case
From CNN's Evan Perez, Paula Reid, Marshall Cohen, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand
Hunter Biden departs federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, in July 2023. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Hunter Biden was charged last month in connection with a long-running Justice Department investigation into his taxes – the second criminal case that special counsel David Weiss has brought against President Joe Biden’s son.
The charges span nine counts, including failure to file and pay taxes; evasion of assessment; and false or fraudulent tax return.
According to the special counsel’s team, Hunter Biden “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million” in taxes that he owed from 2016 through 2019. Though Hunter Biden did eventually pay his taxes from 2018, prosecutors allege that he included “false business deductions in order to evade assessment of taxes to reduce the substantial tax liabilities he faced.”
Prosecutors also allege in the 56-page indictment that he “subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company” by withdrawing millions of dollars outside of its payroll and tax withholding process.
The president’s son “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to the indictment, which states that “between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant spent this money 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.”
The indictment also referenced Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he detailed some of his personal struggles with addiction and substance abuse. He was paid more than $140,000 related to the book from January through October 15, 2020, according to the indictment.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that “based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought.”
He was charged with nine counts in December, including failure to file and pay taxes, evasion of assessment and false or fraudulent tax return. He has yet to enter a plea on the charges, but his attorney has argued that they amount to nothing more than a political hit job.
Republicans have focused on the president’s son and his overseas business dealings, accusing Joe Biden himself of financially benefitting from Hunter Biden’s dealings, claims that are yet unproven.
The charges stem from a years-long investigation by David Weiss, the US attorney for Delaware, who was appointed as special counsel by the attorney general in August. This is the second criminal case Weiss has brought against Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden, center, sits with his lawyers — Kevin Morris, left, and Abbe Lowell, right — during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 10. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Both the House Oversight and House Judiciary committees, which subpoenaed the president’s son for his testimony as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, held separate markups of the contempt resolution.
Hunter Biden walked through the halls of Congress with his lawyers outside the Oversight Committee hearing, creating a tumultuous scene inside and outside the committee room as lawmakers debated what to do. He entered the committee room and sat down for around 10 minutes before departing.
The allegations at the core of the Republican-led investigation stem from unproven claims that the president was involved in or financially benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings, making the president’s son a crucial witness for their probe.
Hunter Biden’s appearance is part of a more aggressive, forward-leaning strategy that his legal team, led by lawyers Lowell and Kevin Morris, has adopted to confront his detractors. The lawyers are aware that despite Congress holding a contempt vote against him as early as next week, they have few – if any – ways to enforce a punishment. Biden’s ability to hold off congressional testimony has become even greater in recent weeks, because he now faces both criminal tax and gun charges, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The stop on Capitol Hill came a day before his expected federal court appearance in his criminal tax case today in Los Angeles.
Hunter Biden departs federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, in July 2023. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Hunter Biden was charged last month in connection with a long-running Justice Department investigation into his taxes – the second criminal case that special counsel David Weiss has brought against President Joe Biden’s son.
The charges span nine counts, including failure to file and pay taxes; evasion of assessment; and false or fraudulent tax return.
According to the special counsel’s team, Hunter Biden “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million” in taxes that he owed from 2016 through 2019. Though Hunter Biden did eventually pay his taxes from 2018, prosecutors allege that he included “false business deductions in order to evade assessment of taxes to reduce the substantial tax liabilities he faced.”
Prosecutors also allege in the 56-page indictment that he “subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company” by withdrawing millions of dollars outside of its payroll and tax withholding process.
The president’s son “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to the indictment, which states that “between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant spent this money 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.”
The indictment also referenced Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he detailed some of his personal struggles with addiction and substance abuse. He was paid more than $140,000 related to the book from January through October 15, 2020, according to the indictment.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that “based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought.”
