LOS ANGELES – Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles Hunter Bidenthe trial continues tax related payments.
This is the second criminal case against the son of a sitting president second to Hunter Biden this year.
Hunter Biden was 54 was charged in December charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors, he claimed he failed to pay his taxes during a period of drug addiction and sobriety. The indictment states that “instead of paying his taxes, the defendant spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle.”
Prosecutors say indictment Hunter Biden “in a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes owed for tax years from January 2017 to October 15, 2020, or approximately 2016 to 2019 was busy. Evaded taxes for 2018 when she submitted false returns for 2018 in or about February 2020.”
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Jury selection is expected to last about two days opening statements originally scheduled for Monday.
Prosecutors estimated it would take six days to present their case to a jury and more than two dozen witnesses would testify. Hunter Biden’s attorneys said their defense would take about two days.
The case, overseen by special prosecutor David Weiss for the prosecution, is expected to include embarrassing and derogatory testimony about Hunter Biden’s drug use and spending.
His money was “spent on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other personal items, in short, everything but his taxes,” the indictment said.
According to the indictment, the expenses included $1.6 million in ATM withdrawals, $683,000 in “various women” and $188,000 in “adult entertainment.”
Prosecutors also alleged that the returns Hunter Biden eventually filed were fraudulent and falsely claimed business expenses he paid to an escort, a strip club, sex club memberships, a pornographic website, and his daughter’s college tuition and rent.
Mark Geragos, one of Hunter Biden’s lawyers, is also there was trying to exclude He argued that details of his client’s “extravagant lifestyle” and “vile and tabloid” details of his expenses were irrelevant.
Prosecutor Leo Wise said at a hearing last month that the details were significant, in part because Hunter Biden allegedly tried to write off some payments to escorts as business expenses.
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi encouraged both sides to agree on what lifestyle evidence could be presented in court, and said Hunter would consider the admissibility of evidence about Biden’s lifestyle and personal expenses as a “matter of fact review.” issue” in court proceedings.
Geragos also asked the judge to allow evidence about Hunter Biden’s addiction problems, including the trauma of his mother and sister dying in a car accident when he was 3 years old and traveling in the same car with them.
“The DOJ wants to paint a picture of a guy without a care in the world hanging out at the Chateau Marmont without giving him the context of what affected him from his past,” Geragos told the judge.
Scarsi denied the request, saying the car accident happened a long time ago and that “I don’t think sobriety is relevant” to whether Hunter Biden committed the crimes he’s accused of.
Evidence of Hunter Biden’s addiction history was at the center of a separate case prosecuted by Weiss’ office in Delaware earlier this year. The president’s son was convicted counts as three felonies it was related to possession of a weapon while using drugs.
He is due to be sentenced in the case on November 12 and has said he plans to appeal the verdict.
Weiss was originally appointed by former President Donald Trump and retained by the Justice Department under the Biden administration.
Katie Wall reported from Los Angeles and Dareh Gregorian reported from New York.