Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is set to stand trial on Thursday in Los Angeles, facing nine tax charges brought by special counsel David Weiss. The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection, and reports from pretrial hearings indicate that presiding Judge Mark Scarsi expects opening statements to begin Monday.
Prospective jurors from Los Angeles and its surrounding region will report to the federal courthouse and go through phases of answering questions as attorneys and Scarsi work to impanel a bench of 12 jurors, along with alternates, who will decide the first son’s fate. The prospective jurors will answer questions about their feelings on topics that will heavily dominate the trial, including their opinions on tax laws and substance abuse, according to the jury selection questionnaire.
Hunter Biden, a recovering addict, is facing allegations that he failed to pay more than $1 million in taxes and submitted false returns for the 2016 to 2019 tax years, all while spending lavishly using money he made from multimillion-dollar business endeavors abroad in China, Ukraine, and elsewhere. The trial could last up to about one month unless the parties reach an eleventh-hour plea deal, though negotiations for a plea agreement over the summer appear to have been fruitless.
A lengthy trial featuring President Joe Biden’s son and evidence presented by the Biden administration’s Justice Department of Hunter Biden’s controversial foreign business ventures, unflattering spending habits on pornography and strippers, substance abuse, and other personal troubles was poised to be a politically fraught ordeal that threatened the president’s prospects in the final stretch of campaign season. However, Joe Biden dropping out of the race in July largely stripped the trial of its political relevancy.
Still, according to the jury selection questionnaire, prospective jurors will also be asked about their politics, including whether they think Weiss is prosecuting Hunter Biden because he is the president’s son and whether they have strong opinions about Joe Biden, good or bad, that would affect their ability to be impartial.
Weiss, who secured a conviction against Hunter Biden in Delaware on three felonies related to a gun purchase, plans to paint the first son as a capable but reckless businessman who knowingly squandered his money away while neglecting his tax obligations, according to court documents.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden’s defense team, led by high-powered California attorney Mark Geragos, has argued he was not in a sound state of mind when the alleged tax violations occurred. Witnesses the government has asked the court to grant immunity to for the trial, including Beau Biden’s widow Hallie Biden, signal it will similar to the gun case. That trial featured Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriends, including Hallie Biden, testifying about his crack addiction and the tribulations of their relationships, mentions of Beau Biden’s death from brain cancer, and repeated readings of Hunter Biden’s memoir, which reflected on a dark period in his life.
The trial comes after Hunter Biden came close to striking a plea deal with Weiss last summer, upon scrutiny from a judge, the deal unraveled.
At the time, Republicans blasted the deal as a “sweetheart” agreement for its mild terms, which involved Hunter Biden pleading guilty to two felonies while avoiding one gun felony. Now, the first son is staring down nine tax charges, including three felonies, and a mountain of evidence against him ahead of his second criminal trial. If convicted, he could face years in prison, on top of what could be months or longer behind bars because of his gun conviction. His sentencing hearing in the gun case is scheduled for Nov. 13.
Joe Biden vowed not to pardon his son following the jury returning a guilty verdict in Delaware, but since dropping his reelection bid, the president has not indicated whether his mind has changed.
