{"id":7356,"date":"2024-09-03T14:42:24","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T06:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=7356"},"modified":"2024-09-03T14:42:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T06:42:27","slug":"hunter-bidens-addiction-to-return-to-limelight-in-second-criminal-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=7356","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Biden\u2019s addiction to return to limelight in second criminal trial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hunter Biden is set to stand trial for a second time this year beginning this week, now on criminal charges he failed to pay more than a million dollars in federal taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president\u2019s embattled son is accused of withholding at least $1.4 million between 2016 to 2019, in the throes of his addiction to crack cocaine following his brother\u2019s death from brain cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s drug addiction was a focal point of his earlier trial on felony gun charges, where a Delaware jury convicted him in June of lying about his use of illicit drugs on a federal gun purchase form. It marked the first criminal conviction of a sitting president\u2019s child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sordid details of that time in Biden\u2019s life are expected to play a similarly significant role in his tax trial, which a California-based federal judge scheduled to begin with jury selection on Sept. 5 and opening statements on Sept. 9. He\u2019s pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a hearing in Los Angeles federal court last month, Biden\u2019s lawyer accused special counsel David Weiss\u2019s team of attempting \u201ccharacter assassination\u201d of the president\u2019s son by seeking to show salacious evidence and testimony to jurors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey want to slime him because that is the whole purpose,\u201d attorney Mark Geragos said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That evidence could include details about Biden\u2019s \u201cextravagant\u201d lifestyle at the time, from strip clubs and sex workers to alcohol and drug abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors have argued in court filings that Biden\u2019s personal spending choices lend insight into his state of mind during the period he allegedly failed to file and pay his taxes, which could help jurors assess his culpability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the hearing, prosecutor Leo Wise pointed to Biden\u2019s payment to a pornographic website as an example of what jurors could use to determine whether he purposefully or unintentionally listed clearly personal items as business expenses. Biden\u2019s playboy lifestyle is also detailed in his memoir, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe describes partying in hotels with a cast of strippers,\u201d Wise said. \u201cHe chose to pay them, which is fine \u2014 it\u2019s America, you can do that. But then he chose to take it as a business deduction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s lawyer asked to have any references to his \u201cextravagant\u201d lifestyle barred but said the president\u2019s son would stipulate that he spent on generalized \u201cpersonal expenses\u201d if the court blocked prosecutors from describing them in lurid detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, who is overseeing the case, said that he would reserve a ruling on Biden\u2019s request, instead asking the parties to preview any contentious evidence on an issue-by-issue basis at trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Court generally agrees with the Government that evidence of the precise nature of Mr. Biden\u2019s expenditures is necessary for the jury\u2019s assessment of Mr. Biden\u2019s state of mind at least as to Counts 6 through 8,\u201d Scarsi wrote in an Aug. 27 order on several pretrial motions, following the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three counts referenced are the felony charges against Biden: one count of tax evasion and two counts of filing a false return. The other six charges he faces are misdemeanors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat said, the Court intends to maintain strict control under Rule 403 over the presentation of evidence that might be characterized as salacious,\u201d the judge said, referring to a rule that lets courts exclude certain evidence if its value to the case is outweighed by the risk of prejudice or other considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter Biden and his father, President Biden, have openly addressed the younger Biden\u2019s struggles with addiction, suggesting that the 2015 brain cancer death of his brother, Beau Biden, was a turning point in his already trauma-riddled life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scarsi precluded Hunter Biden\u2019s legal team from arguing that either Beau Biden\u2019s death or that the brothers\u2019 survival of a 1972 car accident that killed his mother and infant sister were causes of the president\u2019s son\u2019s addiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvidence of the causes of Mr. Biden\u2019s addiction is irrelevant, and neither party may elicit such evidence or refer to any alleged causes of Mr. Biden\u2019s addiction in the opening statements,\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During opening arguments in Hunter Biden\u2019s gun trial earlier this year, his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, did reference those incidents, telling jurors that the president\u2019s son was reeling from his trauma and in a \u201cdeep state of denial\u201d about his drug use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the shadow it cast on the trial, Weiss, the special counsel, later contended that Biden\u2019s addiction was only a piece of the government\u2019s case about the \u201cillegal choices defendant made while in the throes of addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, his affliction was laid bare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several of Biden\u2019s past romantic partners \u2014 including his ex-wife, late brother\u2019s widow and an ex-girlfriend \u2014 took the stand to testify about his drug use in the government\u2019s case, in addition to testimony from his daughter, Naomi Biden, in the defense\u2019s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his conviction, he expressed gratitude for his rehabilitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geragos, Biden\u2019s lawyer in the tax case, is expected to argue that the president\u2019s son did not \u201cwillfully\u201d break the law. The lawyer has suggested that Biden\u2019s addiction impacted his \u201cdecision-making and judgment,\u201d to the extent that he could not have intentionally committed the crimes with which he\u2019s charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a jury of 12 Californians will ultimately decide. A conviction in the case, which charges Biden with nine counts, including tax evasion and filing false tax returns, would be the second against the president\u2019s son, significantly raising the trial\u2019s stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Biden faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for his three felony gun charge convictions, first-time offenders are rarely given the maximum penalty; federal sentencing guidelines recommend a sentence between 15 to 21 months in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he is no longer a first-time offender, and if convicted again, could face greater penalties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hunter Biden is set to stand trial for a second time this year beginning this week, now on criminal charges he failed to pay more than a million dollars in federal taxes. The president\u2019s embattled son is accused of withholding at least $1.4 million between 2016 to 2019, in the throes of his addiction to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[728,1906,1907],"class_list":["post-7356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-biden","tag-he","tag-his"],"yoast_head":"\nHunter Biden\u2019s addiction to return to limelight in second criminal trial - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=7356\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hunter Biden\u2019s addiction to return to limelight in second criminal trial - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hunter Biden is set to stand trial for a second time this year beginning this week, now on criminal charges he failed to pay more than a million dollars in federal taxes. 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