President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden makes a statement to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, saying he will testify publicly to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
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Prosecutors in the U.S. criminal tax case against Hunter Biden have accused him of accepting payments from a Romanian businessman who attempted to “influence U.S. government agencies” to participate in Romanian criminal investigations.
The U.S. Justice Department made the charge in a document filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, as President Joe Biden’s son is scheduled to face trial on tax evasion charges on September 9. He pleads not guilty.
ABC said the allegation stems from Hunter Biden’s work for Gabriel Popoviciu, a wealthy Romanian who, in the documents, Known as a “general practitioner,” prosecutors say he hired Hunter Biden to practice law in late 2015 when Joe Biden was serving as U.S. vice president.
Reuters could not independently confirm that “GP” was Popovichu.
Lawyers for Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a similar request. The White House declined to comment. Popoviciu could not immediately be reached outside of business hours.
In the filing, prosecutors said they plan to present evidence that Hunter Biden and a business associate “received payments from a foreign principal who sought to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and promote US probe Romania into Romanian general practitioners.
Prosecutors added that Hunter Biden and the business associates were “concerned that the lobbying work could have political repercussions for the defendant’s father” and that Hunter Biden wanted to conceal the “true nature” of his work for GPs.
GP faces bribery charges in Romania, documents say.
federal grand jury charged In December last year, Hunter Biden was found guilty of not paying $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019, while spending millions of dollars on drugs and various high-priced items.
The president’s son is also accused of filing false returns to avoid a tax assessment for the 2018 tax year. He faces three felony charges and other misdemeanor charges.
Separately, Hunter Biden was convicted in June by a jury in Wilmington, Delaware, of lying about illegal drug use when purchasing a handgun in 2018.
