Hunter Biden was indicted on nine tax charges in California on Thursday as a special counsel investigation into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son intensifies. The three felony and six misdemeanor charges are in addition to federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging that he broke laws in 2018 against drug users having guns. They come after the implosion of a plea deal this summer that would have spared him jail time. Hunter Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” said special counsel David Weiss, reports the Associated Press. The charges center on at least $1.4 million in taxes he owed during between 2016 and 2019, a period where he has acknowledged struggling with addiction. The back taxes have since been paid.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss of “bowing to Republican pressure” “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. The charging documents filed in California, where Hunter Biden lives, details spending on everything from drugs and girlfriends to luxury hotels and exotic cars, “in short, everything but his taxes,” prosecutor Leo Wise wrote. The indictment comes as congressional Republicans pursue an impeachment probe into President Biden, saying he was engaged in an influence-peddling scheme with his son. The House is expected to vote next week on authorizing the inquiry. No evidence has emerged to prove that Joe Biden has abused his role or accepted bribes, though questions have arisen about the ethics surrounding the Biden family’s international business. The criminal investigation led by Weiss has been open since 2018. It was expected to wind down with the plea deal that Hunter Biden had planned to strike with prosecutors. He would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges and would have entered a separate agreement on the gun charge, getting two years of probation rather than jail time.