Hunter Biden expected to be arraigned on federal tax charges in Los Angeles

Hunter Biden is expected to be arraigned on Thursday on federal tax charges in a Los Angeles courthouse.

Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is expected to plead not guilty to nine tax-related charges that were filed in December. Three of the charges faced by Joe Biden’s son are felony counts, and he could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty.

“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4m in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” the 56-page indictment said, adding that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”.

On Wednesday the younger Biden surprised members of the House of Representatives in Washington DC when he when he showed up for a hearing in which Republican lawmakers sought to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify. (Democrats pointed out that Hunter Biden did offer to testify in public.)

Today’s California arraignment will be more procedural than Wednesday’s political theater, in which he will formally enter his plea after hearing the full account of his tax charges.