- by foxnews
- 12 Nov 2024
Hunter Biden may not be the political football he was when his father, Joe Biden, was still running for re-election as president, but he will be under a bright spotlight as he faces multiple counts of tax fraud and tax evasion in Los Angeles this week and, if found guilty, risks as long as 22 years behind bars.
The narrative presented by federal prosecutors in their indictment would make uneasy reading for any defendant, much less the son of a sitting president. Biden, the prosecutors allege, failed to file his taxes on time from 2016 to 2019, despite earning millions of dollars from his consultancy work with the Ukrainian industrial conglomerate Burisma and a Chinese private equity firm.
When he did eventually file his 2018 return, the indictment further alleges, he mischaracterized personal expenditures as business deductions, including college tuition fees for his children and more than $27,000 that he spent on online pornography.
The allegation about foreign business dealings may still sting, even if it no longer has the same potency now that Biden has stepped aside as the Democratic nominee in favor of Kamala Harris. The allegation about legal proceedings, meanwhile, might be short-lived if the jury returns the second guilty verdict against Hunter Biden in four months.
Jury selection begins on Thursday, with opening arguments expected on Monday 9 September. Lawyers for both sides have said the trial is likely to last about two weeks.
In a surprising twist for Australia’s wildlife scene, an emperor penguin has been spotted on Ocean Beach in Denmark, Western Australia, marking the first recorded sighting of this Antarctic species on the continent. This lone traveler, affectionately nicknamed Gus, has astonished locals and raised questions about the environmental forces that might have led him so far from his icy home. Discovered on November 1, Gus’s unexpected appearance, 2,200 miles from his native Antarctic habitat, has captivated wildlife enthusiasts, tourists, and scientists alike, highlighting the broader implications of climate change and shifts in marine currents.
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