Hunter Biden Court Date Set For January 11th

The United States District Court for the Central District of California announced on Monday that President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is due to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom for the first time, on January 11th of next year.

According an indictment earlier this month, Biden faces one count of felony tax evasion, two counts of felony filing a false tax return, four misdemeanor counts of failing to pay federal taxes, and two counts of failing to file federal taxes. In total, Biden stands accused of not paying a grand total of $1.4 million in taxes during this time despite evidence that he had spent millions on maintaining a luxurious lifestyle. If convicted, Biden faces up to 17 years in prison.

“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” said the indictment, which was filed at the District Court earlier this month. “Instead, the defendant spent huge sums on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, including over $70,000 on drug rehabilitation.

“The Defendant had a legal obligation to pay taxes on all his income, including income earned in Ukraine from his service on Burisma’s Board, fees generated by deal-making with the Chinese private equity fund, as well as income derived from his work as a lawyer and other sources. In 2018 alone, Hunter Biden spent more than $1.8 million, including approximately $772,000 in cash withdrawals, approximately $383,000 in payments to women, approximately $151,000 in clothing and accessories. The Defendant did not use any of these funds to pay his taxes in 2018.”

While Biden’s legal team quickly mounted a defense, saying that the taxes were repaid two years ago and that the charges were unfair, the fact that a grand jury returned an indictment meant that a court date in Los Angeles would be made in the next few weeks. On Monday, things were finally lined up with the U.S. Department of Justice listing the Biden case, United States v. Robert Hunter Biden, to be held at 1 P.M. on January 11, 2024 at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Los Angeles. Judge Alka Sagar is currently set to hear the case.

Biden set to be in LA January 11th

A plea deal is possible in the case, but an attempted deal in Delaware over some of Hunter Biden’s gun charges earlier this year fell through, signaling that such a deal would not be a guarantee for the California charges either. As of Tuesday, Biden is expected to appear in the LA courtroom, likely with a media circus outside.

“He did eventually pay, and the reasons for him not initially paying are mired partially in tragedy, but the fact remains that he did break the law,” added Monte Schmidt, a tax law specialist, to the Globe. “And when it comes to tax law, that is usually a rock. You have criminals who dodged the law on so many other things but wound up stuck on tax issues. The famous case is Al Capone, but it happens with a lot of people. And the fact that this is happening in Joe Biden-friendly California should tell you just how much tax evasion sticks.”

“At the very least this will be an embarrassment to the senior Biden right in the middle of election season and gives a little more ammo to the GOP, conviction or not. At most, you will have a President’s son going to jail while his dad is in office. We’ll know more going into January, but at the political level, this isn’t good for team Biden, with the arraignment happening less than two weeks before the New Hampshire primary.