Court date set for Hunter Biden California tax charges case

Hunter Biden is slated to make his first appearance in California federal court next year over felony tax charges in the state. 

Biden’s arraignment on his nine felony tax counts is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2024, at 1 p.m. at the federal court in Los Angeles, according to the Central District of California’s court calendar.  He was indicted earlier this month on three felony charges in connection to tax evasion and filing a false return as well as six misdemeanor charges for failure to pay taxes between 2016 and 2019.

“Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme in which he chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns,” prosecutors wrote in a press release earlier this month.

Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, has argued that his client has received unfair treatment over his late tax filings.

“[W]here’s the fairness, justice and decency in this?” Abbe Lowell said in an interview with CNN earlier this month. “The charges in this new tax indictment talk about a period where Hunter was at the lowest ebb of his addiction. And like people in that regard, and I know everybody in America either has somebody in their family or friends who suffer from addiction, he certainly did things that he’s not proud of.”

The court appearance comes months after a plea deal between prosecutors and Biden over his tax and gun charges fell apart in July. A plea deal likely would have cut down on Biden’s potential jail time if convicted, whereas now he could face up to 17 years in prison for the tax charges alone.

Biden already pleaded not guilty to charges relating to concealing drug use when buying a weapon in October. 

The scheduled court appearance also comes as President Biden’s family is under increased scrutiny from House Republicans, who are investigating his family’s business dealings. The House GOP formalized its impeachment inquiry into the president last week in an effort to get more information from the White House.