Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, has been spotlighted in a recent California indictment, extensively referencing his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.”
The indictment, revealing details about Biden’s tax charges, highlights discrepancies between his lavish lifestyle and his tax obligations from January 2017 to October 2020.
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Biden faces multiple charges for tax evasion, false reporting
The charges against Biden include three felonies and six misdemeanors, centered around his failure to pay federal income taxes and filing false tax reports during the mentioned period.
These charges pertain to an unpaid tax of $1.4 million, which has since been settled. The special counsel’s accusation points to Biden’s extravagant expenditures when he was expected to fulfill his tax liabilities.
Notably, in 2018, he ceased paying his overdue taxes for the 2015 tax year. “[W]hen he did finally file his 2018 returns, [he] included false business deductions in order to evade assessment of taxes to reduce the substantial tax liabilities he faced as of February 2020,” Weiss alleged.
Biden’s memoir earnings, expense claims under scrutiny in indictment
The indictment sheds light on Biden’s financial activities during the time he was writing his memoir.
It states that from January to October 2020, he received around $140,625 for his book, deposited into his wife’s bank account. Furthermore, in 2018, he claimed about $388,810 in business-related travel expenses.
However, while these claims were being made to accountants, Biden did not disclose his work on the memoir.
“Beautiful Things” candidly discusses Biden’s drug usage during this period, contradicting his claims about business expenses.
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Biden’s 2018 substance abuse, entourage details unreported to Accountants
“Unbeknownst to the CA Accountants, in his memoir, the Defendant described 2018 as being dominated by crack cocaine use ‘twenty-four hours a day, smoking every fifteen minutes, seven days a week,’” the indictment reveals.
The document also points out that Biden never informed the accountants about his substance abuse in 2018, which could have led to a more thorough examination of his substantial business expense claims.
Additionally, the memoir recalls his entourage in 2018, which included “thieves, junkies, petty dealers, over-the-hill strippers, con artists, and assorted hangers-on, who then invited their friends and associates and most recent hookups.”
Biden’s memoir depicts lavish lifestyle, continuous parties in luxury hotels
Biden describes this period in his book: “They latched on to me and didn’t let go, all with my approval. I never slept. There was no clock. Day bled into night and night into day.”
The indictment also details Hunter’s stays in upscale hotels and private rentals, extensively quoting the memoir regarding his experiences in Malibu, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood.
“An ant trail of dealers and their sidekicks rolled in and out, day and night. They pulled up in late-series Mercedes-Benzes, decked out in oversized Raiders or Lakers jerseys and flashing fake Rolexes.
Their stripper girlfriends invited their girlfriends, who invited their boyfriends,” he writes. “They’d drink up the entire minibar, call room service for filet mignon and a bottle of Dom Pérignon. One of the women even ordered an additional filet for her purse-sized dog.”
Hunter Biden indicted for personal expenses disguised as business costs
The indictment underscores that no business activities occurred during Hunter’s stays at these luxury hotels. It also mentions specific expenses, such as Lamborghini rentals and luxury hotel stays, described in the memoir but not disclosed as non-business-related.
These expenses, as per the indictment, were personal, part of what Hunter described as a ‘bacchanal’ in 2018. Some hotels were reportedly used for meetings with his girlfriend, characterized by “constant partying.”
In response to the charges, Hunter’s defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, criticized special counsel David Weiss, accusing him of succumbing to Republican pressure.
Hunter Biden claims charges aim to undermine presidency
Lowell argued that the accusations would not have been brought if Hunter’s last name were not Biden.
Hunter Biden commented on the charges, asserting they were attempts to undermine his father’s presidency.
“They are trying to destroy a presidency. And so, it’s not about me. In their most base way, what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to kill me, knowing that it will be a pain greater than my father could be able to handle. And so, therefore, destroying a presidency in that way,” he stated.
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