Hunter Biden set to arrive for arraignment on tax fraud charges in LA federal court

LOS ANGELES — Welcome back to “The Surreal Life” starring Hunter Biden.

The first son is set to arrive at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday for arraignment on charges of allegedly evading taxes on foreign earnings that are the focus of a House impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Hunter, 53, flew back to California from Washington, DC, Wednesday evening after stunning members of Congress by crashing a House committee debate on whether to hold him in contempt for refusing to appear for a deposition last month.

Judge Mark C. Scarsi, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, will preside over the arraignment, at which Hunter is expected to plead not guilty to nine charges that carry a maximum of 17 years in prison for allegedly failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019.

The first son “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to the 56-page indictment filed last month, including payments for “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.”

The splurging added up to $1.64 million in ATM withdrawals, $683,212 for “payments to various women,” $397,530 for clothing and accessories and $188,960 on adult entertainment, among other line items.

Hunter also claimed false tax deductions for “consulting” while making payments to “various women who were either romantically involved with or otherwise performing personal services” for him, prosecutors allege.

In one instance, Hunter also made use of a business line of credit to pay $27,000 to a porn site, “which in total accounted for one fifth of all of the business line of credit expenditures.”

In his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” Hunter recounted his descent into alcohol and drug addiction — most notably crack cocaine — after the death in 2015 of his older brother, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.

Kevin Morris, a Hollywood lawyer who made his fortune negotiating licensing deals on behalf of “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, sprang into action to bankroll Hunter in an attempt to head off tax charges after meeting him for the first time at a December 2019 political fundraiser.

In a Feb. 7, 2020 email — about two months after they met — Morris contacted accountants on Hunter’s behalf to warn them to work quickly due to “considerable risk personally and politically.”

Morris reportedly gave at least $4.9 million over three years to Hunter to cover his back taxes and living expenses. Republican critics question whether that generosity is a de facto campaign contribution to the elder Biden.

Morris is also bankrolling a gauzy documentary about the first son to contrast Hunter’s lavish life as a Malibu-based artist with ongoing criminal and congressional investigations into his past.

The first son walked away from a probation-only plea deal in July that would have covered both tax and gun offenses over his demand for courtroom assurances that he had broad immunity for other past conduct, including violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which could implicate his father.

Hunter pleaded not guilty in October to three federal gun charges in Delaware that were filed after he rejected what critics slammed as a “sweetheart” plea deal.

The foreign funds flowed from countries such as China, where Hunter engaged in two major ventures with state-backed companies; and Ukraine, where he earned up to $1 million per year beginning in 2014, when his father as vice president led US policy toward the country.

The first son thumbed his nose at House Republicans the day before his California arraignment in a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill, where the House Oversight Committee was meeting to consider holding him in contempt of Congress.

The House panel subpoenaed Hunter on Nov. 8 to appear for a deposition the following month and testify about his foreign deals — but he flouted their request to deliver a speech to the press outside the Capitol, in which he claimed his father was not “financially” involved in his business.

House Republicans say that Hunter sold access to his father and are investigating Joe Biden for interacting with many his son’s foreign partners as well as those of first brother James Biden.

The impeachment inquiry is also reviewing allegations of a Justice Department coverup to shield Joe and Hunter Biden in a five-year tax investigation.

IRS supervisor Gary Shapley, who oversaw the probe for three years, and case agent Joseph Ziegler, who worked on the inquiry for five years, told Congress last year that Justice Department leaders misled Congress about the investigation, tipped off Hunter’s legal team to investigative steps, didn’t share evidence and investigative leads and forbade lines of inquiry into Joe Biden, even when communications directly implicated him in the dealings.

In one widely cited example, Shapley and Ziegler said they were not allowed to get cellphone location data that could have proved Joe Biden was with his son in July 2017 when Hunter sent a threatening text message to a Chinese government-linked businessman saying, “I am sitting here with my father” and warning of retribution.

Within 10 days of that message, $5.1 million flowed to accounts linked to Hunter and first James Biden from CEFC China Energy — after a tranche of $1 million earlier that year, less than two months after Biden left office as vice president.

A May 2017 email penciled in Joe Biden, referred to as the “big guy,” for a 10% cut from CEFC dealings.

The IRS whistleblowers also said that Attorney General Merrick Garland misled Congress under oath about Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’ ability to independently bring charges against the first son.

Biden-appointed US attorneys in Los Angeles and Washington have since confirmed that they declined to partner with Weiss, who in August was elevated by Garland to be a special counsel so that he could refile the cases.

Critics have questioned Weiss’ decision not to seek charges under FARA and his office’s alleged actions to allow Hunter to run out the statute of limitations on older tax charges.

Hunter’s decision to renege on his plea deal came after Delaware federal judge Maryellen Noreika questioned of the terms of the arrangement, in which prosecutors declined to affirm the first son had blanket immunity, despite Hunter’s insistence that that was the deal — a stance that seemed to be supported by the subsequent release of a legal side-deal.