The jury selection process for President Joe Biden’s son’s federal tax trial is set to start this morning in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles, more than a year after a plea agreement between prosecutors and Hunter Biden fell down.
Twelve jurors and four alternates will be selected by U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi for the trial, which is anticipated to highlight Hunter Biden’s overseas business ventures, his battles with addiction, and his extravagant spending.
Hunter Biden was allegedly involved in a four-year plot by the prosecution to evade paying $1.4 million in taxes while he was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, exotic vehicles, clothes, drugs, and five-star hotels.
He has entered a not guilty plea to the nine-count indictment, which consists of two felonies for filing fraudulent forms and a felony charge of tax evasion in addition to six misdemeanor counts of refusal to pay.
Eventually, a third party—identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden confidant Kevin Morris—paid all outstanding taxes and penalties in full.
The trial is taking place three months after a Delaware jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three felonies pertaining to his purchase of a weapon in 2018 while he was purportedly abusing narcotics. In that instance, his sentence is set on November 13.
Hunter Biden may get a maximum combined term of up to 17 years in prison if found guilty in Los Angeles.
Monday is set aside for the trial’s opening remarks, which will follow two days of jury selection this week. Hunter Biden’s team has said that it will spend two days on his defense, while the prosecution anticipates spending six days presenting their evidence.
Here’s what you should know about the actions.
How will the jury selection process operate?
Judge Scarsi intends to pick the jury in the Los Angeles trial using a procedure like to the one employed in Hunter Biden’s Delaware trial, when the jury selection process took place in a single day. It is anticipated that on Thursday, 120 prospective jurors from Los Angeles and six neighboring counties will be called for jury duty.
A comprehensive questionnaire with fifty questions on potential jurors’ experiences paying taxes and their dealings with law enforcement will be the main focus of the jury selection process.
Asking prospective jurors about their thoughts on the upcoming presidential election and whether they believe law enforcement agencies make decisions based on politics are two of the four questions that directly address Hunter Biden’s unique position as a criminal defendant whose father is the president of the United States.
“Do you believe Robert Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case or is not being prosecuted in other cases because his father is the President of the United States and was until recently a candidate for President?” one question asks.
Addiction is also the subject of five questions, which ask prospective jurors whether they have personally experienced addiction treatment or therapy, or if they have family members who struggle with drug misuse.
“Do you believe someone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol should not be charged with a crime?” another question asks.
What charges do prosecutors make?
Prosecutors said in their 56-page indictment that Hunter Biden intentionally evaded paying taxes by manipulating his business’ payroll system, that he neglected to pay taxes on time even though he had the funds available, and that he provided fraudulent information on his 2018 tax forms.
“[T]he defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” the indictment stated.
Hunter Biden’s millions of cash from foreign businesses in Romania, China, and the Ukraine were further emphasized by the prosecution in return for “nearly no work.”
Despite the fact that Hunter Biden finally used outside assistance to pay all of his overdue taxes and penalties, Judge Scarsi prevented defense lawyers from presenting this evidence to the jury.
Scarsi said last week in an order that “evidence of late payment here is irrelevant to Mr. Biden’s state of mind at the time he allegedly committed the charged crimes.”
What is the purpose of the trial?
Hunter Biden acknowledged that he neglected to pay taxes on income he earned in 2017 and 2018, and he entered a guilty plea to two misdemeanor charges in June. In order to avoid facing criminal charges in connection with his 2018 handgun purchase, the arrangement also permitted him to participate into a pretrial diversion program.
Hunter Biden would have been placed on probation for the tax crimes and, if he had followed the conditions of his diversion arrangement, his gun charge would have been withdrawn if the deal had gone through.
But at a heated hearing before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, the plea agreement collapsed because the judge objected to the arrangement.
In September, Hunter Biden was charged with falsifying on a federal document during his 2018 handgun purchase after special counsel David Weiss released an indictment in Delaware.