Hunter Biden is facing a second criminal indictment.
Federal prosecutors have filed tax charges against the president's son, alleging he schemed to evade at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016-19.
The nine-count indictment includes three felonies and six misdemeanors including failure to file and pay taxes, false tax return and evasion of assessment.
Newsweek has contacted the White House by email to comment on this story.
Here is the 56-page indictment, in full, below:
In the indictment, filed in California, prosecutors allege Hunter Biden spent his money on drugs and exotic cars, among other personal items instead of tax.
"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," the indictment read, adding Hunter Biden "spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills."
"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," the indictment said.
They say the president's son "individually received more than $7 million in total gross income" between 2016 and 2020, but "willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes."
U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss brought the charges against him and has been investigating Biden since 2019.
In a press release announcing the charges on Thursday, the Justice Department said Hunter Biden could face a maximum of 17 years in prison if he is convicted.
In a press statement, Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, responded to the new charges by saying that "if Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought."
"First, U.S. Attorney Weiss bowed to Republican pressure to file unprecedented and unconstitutional gun charges to renege on a non-prosecution resolution. Now, after five years of investigating with no new evidence—and two years after Hunter paid his taxes in full—the U.S. Attorney has piled on nine new charges when he had agreed just months ago to resolve this matter with a pair of misdemeanors," he continued.
The indictment follows Hunter Biden pleading not guilty to three felony charges related to a 2018 firearm purchase. Federal prosecutors alleged he lied about not being addicted to drugs when purchasing a gun, despite knowing that statement was "false," therefore making the transaction illegal, according to a September indictment.
Update 12/08/23, 4 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include more information.
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Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
