Hunter Biden's attorney has spoken out to decry tax evasion allegations against the president's son, claiming no one in a similar situation will face criminal charges.
“Where is the honesty, justice and decency in this?” said attorney Abbe Lowell in an interview with CNN on Friday, after Hunter was hit with nine new charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 17 years.
The 56-page indictment filed by Special Prosecutor David Weiss accuses Hunter of scheming to avoid $1.4 million in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019 while spending lavishly on drugs, prostitutes and an extravagant lifestyle.
“The charges in this new tax complaint relate to a period when Hunter was at the lowest point of his addiction,” Lowell said.
“And just like people in that regard, and I know everyone in America has someone in their family or friends who suffers from addiction, he's certainly done things that he's not proud of.”
Hunter Biden's lawyer has spoken out to dismiss tax evasion charges against the president's son, claiming no one in a similar situation would face criminal charges
“But wait, what's happened since then?” Lowell continued. “He got sober in 2019. And he paid all taxes owed in this suit, plus interest and penalties, over two years ago.”
“No one in that position would be sued like yesterday, no one,” the lawyer argued.
Hunter already faces separate firearms charges in Delaware, raising the possibility he could face trial in two separate cases as his father, President Joe Biden, campaigns for re-election.
The charges against Hunter could add to political complications for his father, President Joe Biden, who likely faces a close presidential race in which Donald Trump is the leading contender for the Republican nomination.
Criminal tax cases are generally very rare, Beverly Moran, a tax law expert at Vanderbilt University, told the Associated Press.
The average American is almost as likely to win the lottery as to be criminally prosecuted for tax fraud, she said, based on 2021 data from the Internal Revenue Service.
“Most people who commit tax fraud go their entire lives without anything happening. They don't get checked, they don't get caught, they don't get prosecuted,” she said. “But if they are prosecuted, they will be convicted.”
Of the 665 cases referred for prosecution in 2021, about 90 percent resulted in a conviction, IRS data shows.
“Where is the honesty, justice and decency in this?” attorney Abbe Lowell said in an interview with CNN on Friday, after Hunter faced nine new charges
The 56-page indictment filed by special counsel David Weiss accuses Hunter of scheming to avoid $1.4 million in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019.
However, tax evasion can lead to jail time. Actor Wesley Snipes spent three years in prison after being convicted in 2008 of three felonies for failing to file tax returns in a case in which he owed about $7 million in back taxes.
Cases against celebrities and other high-profile people can also generate attention that helps convince other people to file their taxes on time, Moran said.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie predicted Friday that Hunter would have to serve prison time even if he signs a new plea deal.
Christie, who is running for the 2024 Republican nomination, spoke with NBC's Andrea Mitchell on Friday afternoon.
“I'm sure he could negotiate a plea deal at this point, but it's not going to be the kind of sweetheart deal he got before,” said Christie, a former federal prosecutor. '
And I suspect that with the combination of the gun charges and the tax charges, Hunter Biden will have to spend some time in jail.”
The White House has repeatedly insisted that President Biden would not pardon his son, a position that press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday has not changed.