Hunter Biden’s tax trial carries less political weight but heavy emotional toll for the president

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden’s continued legal problems may no longer be a political concern for the president, but they’re still very much a personal concern.

President Joe Biden’s son is already facing the prospect of prison time after his conviction on felony gun charges and is now confronting a second criminal trial in the case accusing him of dodging taxes on millions of dollars in income from foreign business entities.

The trial could put a spotlight on Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings that Republicans have spent years scrutinizing to accuse the Democratic president — without evidence — of corruption in connection with his son’s work overseas.

The potential political ramifications of the trial just weeks before the presidential election may have faded somewhat since President Biden’s July decision to drop out of the 2024 race. But the president is deeply concerned with the well-being of his son, so the trial is likely to weigh heavily on him in the final months of his five-decade political career.

It’s unclear whether the Biden family will attend the trial, which begins Thursday with jury selection in a Los Angeles federal court. First lady Jill Biden sat in the courtroom nearly every day of Hunter Biden’s trial in Delaware, flying home from France to be there only to turn around and return for an elaborate state visit at Élysée Palace.

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