U.S. News
Hunter Biden’s own words in memoir help prosecutors build tax evasion case
By Jake Beardslee · December 10, 2023
In brief…
- Memoir passages detail luxury spending during period Biden claimed business deductions
- Defense lawyer and Biden allege charges politically motivated against his father
- Indictment details $388,810 in business travel expenses claimed by Biden in 2018
- Luxury hotels, exotic dancer flights, Lamborghini rentals called personal not business expenses
Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” which details his activities and spending history, is cited throughout the California tax evasion indictment filed against him this week. According to the indictment, Biden did not pay income taxes from 2017-2020, despite earning $140,625 in 2019 from an advance for his memoir. The document states that in 2018, Biden claimed approximately $388,810 in business travel deductions. However, his memoir raises questions about whether those trips were for business purposes.
The memoir is quoted depicting Biden’s stays at luxury hotels in Malibu in 2018, with no evidence of business activities taking place. The indictment later notes: “The Defendant never told the CA Accountants about his extensive drug and alcohol abuse in 2018 which might have prompted greater scrutiny of his claims of hundreds of thousands of dollars in business expenses.” Biden also expensed Lamborghini rentals and flying in dancers, costs the government contends were personal, not business-related.
Biden’s attorney asserted the charges were politically motivated, stating: “If Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought.” Biden stated Republicans were “trying to kill me” via the indictment to damage his father.