US president's son pleads not guilty to federal tax charges

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, on Thursday pleaded not guilty to nine tax charges in federal court in Los Angeles, California and is expected to go on trial in June.

Prosecutors alleged in a 56-page indictment filed last month that Hunter Biden made $7 million between 2016 and 2020, and he "spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills".

"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," special counsel David Weiss's office said in a statement when the charges were filed.

Biden's indictment came in the wake of a failed plea deal involving tax and gun charges that would have spared him any jail time. Instead, he was charged with federal firearms counts in the state of Delaware alleging that he broke laws in 2018 pertaining to drug users possessing guns.

The high-profile case comes amid the president's son publicly defying a subpoena last month to testify before Congress. Instead of appearing before a closed-door House committee, Biden held a press conference in front of the Capitol in which he adamantly declared that his father had no financial ties to his personal business affairs.

"My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of (Ukrainian natural gas firm) Burisma (Holdings), not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist," Biden told reporters, as he made reference to his drug problems.

"And in the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It's shameless," he continued. "There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen."