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.
At roughly the same time, federal prosecutors claimed in a nine-count indictment filed Thursday, Biden’s son Hunter dropped seven figures on “everything but his taxes.”
“Under my tax plan, no one making under $400,000 will see their taxes go up,” Biden boasted on his campaign’s Twitter account in the final days of the 2020 campaign. “But it’s time large corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.”
Former President Donald Trump, the then-Democratic challenger said at other times, had pushed through a generous tax cut for “his wealthy friends” while in office.
Biden further contrasted his predecessor’s economic policies with his own after winning the presidency, pushing his approach as part of big legislative spending packages that have been blamed for a decades-high surge in prices.
Earlier this year, the president went even further to “ask the wealthiest to pay just a little bit more of 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 catered to the progressive flank of Biden’s party, with lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) frequently calling for the federal government to “tax the rich.”
But Hunter, prosecutors say, evaded at least $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 — despite reporting an income of nearly $7 million during that period.
Special counsel David Weiss brought three felony charges against the first son, alleging the “four-year [tax avoidance] scheme” fueled his “extravagant” lifestyle, according to a Los Angeles grand jury indictment.
That included splurging 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 56-page document reads.
Over the four-year period, the first son withdrew more than $1.64 million in case from ATMs, paid $683,212 to “various women” with whom he was romantically involved or who were “performing personal services,” spent $397,530 on clothing and accessories and $188,960 on adult entertainment.
Several of those payments, prosecutors say, were falsely categorized as business expenses, such as $10,000 for a sex club membership that was relabeled “golf club membership.”
Hunter also shelled out a relatively paltry $71,869 on drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, according to a breakdown included in the indictment.
If convicted on all counts, the 53-year-old faces up to 17 years in prison.
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 would not pardon him if convicted.
Weiss also indicted Hunter in September on three counts of having lied about his crack cocaine use on a federal gun purchase form — charges for which he could face up to 25 years in prison.
In a Thursday statement, Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss and his team of prosecutors of having “renege[d]” on a probation-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, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought,” Lowell said.
“Now, after five years of investigating with no new evidence — and two years after Hunter paid his taxes in full — the US Attorney has piled on nine new charges when he had agreed just months ago to resolve this matter with a pair of misdemeanors.”
The high-powered criminal lawyer said the gun charges were also proof that Weiss also “bowed to Republican pressure.”