Hunter Biden has denied all the charges against him, pleading not guilty to the tax crimes levied against him.
He made that plea during his first federal court appearance on Thursday. The case against him was brought after SPecial Counsel David Weiss concluded his investigation into the president’s son.
After the court hearing, the U.S. Marshals Service processed Biden.
The president’s son has been charged with nine different federal tax crimes, all of which came as a result of the investigation led by Weiss. He pleaded not guilty to all of those charges.
As of now, the trial is scheduled to start on June 20.
In December, Weiss formally charged Biden, alleging that he engaged in a “four-year scheme” in which he didn’t pay any federal income tax. This occurred between January of 2017 and October of 2020.
During that same time period, Weiss alleges that Biden filed tax reports that were false. The total amount of taxes in question totaled $1.4 million, and they have been paid since that time.
All of the charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, since Biden lives in California.
Of the nine charges, six are misdemeanors and three are felonies.
As Weiss alleges in his indictment:
“[Hunter Biden] 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, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020. …
“[In] furtherance of that scheme … [Biden] subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company, Owasco, PC by withdrawing millions” of money from that company outside of the payroll and tax withholding process that it was designed to perform.”
Weiss further alleged that Biden ended up spending “millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.”
In addition, he “stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015” as of 2018.
The conditions that were set by the judge in the case for Biden to be released were the same as ones set in Delaware. That’s where he pleaded guilty in October to separate federal gun charges that were also brought by Weiss.
In order to be released, Biden is required to try to get a job and communicate any travel plans he has overseas. He also can’t possess a firearm, or use drugs or alcohol. He also is subject to random drug tests and must participate in a counseling program for substance abuse.
In December, Abbe Lowell, who’s serving as Biden’s attorney in the case, said that Weiss was “bowing to Republican pressure” in bringing these charges against his clients.
In a statement, the attorney said:
“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.”
