Hunter Biden faces Jan. 11 arraignment on tax charges

Hunter Biden must appear on Jan. 11 in a Los Angeles court to respond to federal charges that he failed to pay taxes on millions of dollars he received from foreign businesses, court records show. 

The arraignment will be before Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar at 1 p.m. Pacific time, according to the court's website.

The son of President Joe Biden, he's expected to plead not guilty at his arraignment over a Dec. 8 indictment secured by Special Counsel David Weiss. House Republicans have made Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings a central focus of their impeachment inquiry into his father. 

A federal grand jury charged Biden last week with failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019 even as he spent millions of dollars on a drug-fueled life featuring escorts, fast cars and luxury hotels, much of it while he was in the grips of addiction. He could face 17 years in prison if convicted of the three felonies and six misdemeanors in his indictment.

Biden, 53, is expected to face trial next year as his father seeks re-election in an expected rematch with Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Trump, who faces four criminal indictments, points to the business affairs of Biden as evidence the presidential family is corrupt. Weiss' indictment offered no evidence the president benefited from or was involved in his son's activities — a link that Republicans have long tried to establish.

Tom Williams/Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ-Ro

Prosecutors allege Biden made more than $7 million in gross income from 2016 to 2020, including from a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, and a Chinese private equity firm, CEFC China Energy. Instead of paying taxes, prosecutors say, he spent money on "drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature."

Biden also faces a separate trial in Delaware on federal gun charges. Both trials would have been unnecessary under a plea deal he agreed to July in Delaware. He would have admitted to two misdemeanor tax counts and acknowledged a firearms violation without a conviction, receiving no jail time. But the deal imploded when a federal judge questioned its terms and refused to sign off on it.

In court filings in Delaware on Dec. 11, Biden's lawyers argued that both indictments should be dropped because their client has immunity under a deal he struck with Weiss in July. 

US District Judge Mark Scarsi is overseeing the tax case.

The case is US v. Biden, 23-cr-599, US District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).