HUNTER BIDEN, THE son of US President Joe Biden, has been hit with nine fresh indictments by the US Department of Justice in California for tax offences.
The special counsel investigation into the 53-year-old is set to intensify ahead of next year’s presidential election, after he was hit with the new charges which include three felonies and six misdemeanours.
They will be added to a slew of federal firearms charges, in which the state of Delaware alleges that Hunter Biden broke several laws against drug users having guns in 2018.
The new charges arose on Thursday, shortly after the implosion of a plea deal that would have spared him jail time. They will potentially throw a spanner in the works of his father’s campaign for re-election.
The new indictment says Hunter Biden earned more than $7 million from 2016 to 2020 and used this money for a freewheeling lifestyle.
Special counsel David Weiss described the junior Biden as a man who “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”.
The charges are centred on at least $1.4 million (€1.3 million) in taxes that Hunter Biden owed between 2016 and 2019, a period where he has acknowledged struggling with addiction.
The back taxes have since been paid.
The indictment added: “Between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the defendant spent this money 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.”
In response, defence attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss of “bowing to Republican pressure” in the case.
“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,” he said.
The White House declined to comment on Thursday’s indictment, referring questions to the Justice Department or Hunter Biden’s personal representatives.
If convicted, Biden could face a maximum of 17 years in prison. The special counsel probe remains open, Weiss said.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty this year to three felony charges stemming from his purchase of a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 when, by his own admission, he was addicted to drugs.
He is charged with illegally possessing the handgun and two counts of making false statements for claiming on forms required for the gun purchase that he was not using drugs at the time.
The new charges mean that Hunter Biden could in theory go on trial twice next year.
President Biden has insisted he stands by his son despite his past troubled behaviour.
Republicans have opened an impeachment inquiry in Congress into what they claim is a Biden family criminal conspiracy but have provided no evidence that the president did anything wrong.
In July, a plea bargain between Hunter Biden and prosecutor Weiss – which would have erased the gun charges while Biden pleaded guilty to two tax charges and avoided prison – fell apart.
Hunter Biden has not been charged with any crimes related to his foreign business dealings, despite the Republican allegations.
Contains reporting from Press Association.
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