First son Hunter Biden was indicted by a federal prosecutor in California late Thursday on nine separate charges related to tax issues.
Fox News reported that the indictments are linked to “failure to pay nearly $200,000 of income tax in the year 2019.”
Special Counsel David Weiss has been using a federal grand jury in Los Angeles to gather evidence of possible criminal tax charges against Hunter, the outlet continued.
The charges only add to other legal troubles facing the first son. In October, he pleaded not guilty to a federal gun charge related to his allegedly lying on a background check form about past drug use. His not-guilty plea came after a sweetheart deal he struck with Weiss and other federal prosecutors for the gun and other tax charges fell apart when a federal judge examined the conditions.
Meanwhile, the House Rules Committee will meet early next week to decide whether to put the issue of launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden to a vote of the full chamber.
“Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes,” the panel’s announcement noted on Thursday, per Newsmax.
Lawyers for the first son have demanded he only appear for a public hearing, but Republicans want to depose him behind closed doors first — which is standard procedure — due to the depth of documents that need to be discussed. If he refuses, he will subjected to contempt of Congress proceedings — if his presidential father allows the Justice Department to act.
“Executive power of the White House over the DOJ would make any charge unlikely, even if it would have bad optics for an incumbent president in an election year,” Newsmax pointed out.
Johnson said the White House’s refusal to cooperate meant that the GOP-controlled chamber had “no choice” but to move ahead with a former impeachment inquiry vote.
