Hunter Biden Charged With Tax Evasion

Hunter Biden was indicted again Thursday, adding to the gun charges he's already facing. A federal grand jury on Thursday charged the president's son with evading taxes on millions he made from foreign businesses. Specifically, three felonies and six misdemeanors: three counts each of evasion of a tax assessment, failure to file and pay taxes, and filing a false or fraudulent tax return. The probe by special counsel David C. Weiss that led to the charges remains open. Coverage:

• Read the indictment: The New York Times has the 56-page document in full here.
• Weiss sums it up: The special counsel, who started investigating Biden in 2018, says Biden "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."
• More from a prosecutor: The indictment says Biden allegedly spent money on, "in short, everything but his taxes," per a prosecutor. He allegedly spent money on luxury purchases including hotels and cars, drugs, strippers, escorts, and more.
• How serious? The New York Times says that while the tax charges "have always been the more serious element of the inquiry," the charges are "far less explosive than ones pushed by former President Donald J. Trump and congressional Republicans."

• How long? If convicted, Biden could face up to 17 years behind bars, but Politico reports defendants are often given shorter sentences under federal guidelines.
• Compared to the collapsed plea deal: Under the plea deal that fell apart earlier this year over concerns about the immunity Biden would have been granted under it, Biden would only have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors. He now instead faces these nine charges plus the three gun charges, related to purchasing a firearm while using drugs, the Hill reports.
• "Willfully": Politico notes Biden is charged with acting "willfully," and that his defense team will likely push back against that due to his years-long struggle with drug addiction.
• Impact on his father: As CNN reports, House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Biden (which they are on the verge of voting on whether to formalize) is largely centered around allegations that Joe Biden was involved with and benefited from "corrupt" deals his son had while doing business with companies in Ukraine and China. So far, however, prosecutors have not released any evidence of that.
• More on Biden the elder: The AP puts it this way: "No evidence has emerged so far to prove that Joe Biden, in his current or previous office, abused his role or accepted bribes, though questions have arisen about the ethics surrounding the Biden family's international business."
• Next year should be interesting: Hunter Biden could face two criminal trials as his dad runs for re-election; if his dad is running against Donald Trump again, Trump is currently facing four criminal cases.
• Response from Hunter Biden's camp: "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," his defense attorney says, accusing Weiss of "bowing to Republican pressure."

(More Hunter Biden stories.)