![CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig threw cold water on Hunter Biden's lawyers' defense of their client after the president's son was hit with a slew of new charges. [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-08-at-9.30.11-AM-e1702047023462.png "CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig threw cold water on Hunter Biden's lawyers' defense of their client after the president's son was hit with a slew of new charges. [Screenshot CNN]")
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig threw cold water on Hunter Biden’s lawyers’ defense of their client after the president’s son was hit with a slew of new charges.
A federal grand jury in California indicted Hunter on nine counts related to his alleged failure to pay over $1 million worth of taxes over a four year period. The indictment also shows Hunter brought in more than $7 million in total gross income from foreign business dealings with Ukrainian, Romanian and Chinese entities. Three of the charges are felonies while the remaining six are misdemeanors.
Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Thursday that if Hunter’s last name wasn’t Biden, charges would not have been brought in either Delaware or California.
“I don’t think [that’s true],” Honig said in response. “It may be true with respect to – remember there’s another case, there’s a gun case out of Delaware that deals Hunter Biden possessing a firearm five years ago for about two weeks and it ends up in a dumpster, and he never uses it, I have serious questions about whether DoJ would ever bring a case like that against anyone else. I would not have authorized that charge.” (RELATED: Jonathan Turley Says New Hunter Indictment ‘Shatters Years Of Denials’ About Biden Business Dealings)
“This tax case is different though, this is $1.4 million in alleged tax loss, which is not a blockbuster case by federal tax crimes standards, but it’s not nothing either, it’s a fairly routine type of DoJ tax case,” Honig explained. “We’re in a different stratosphere with this new indictment than we were before with respect to Hunter Biden’s tax problems. Let’s remember, back in July Hunter Biden walked into court and was minutes away from pleading to two tax misdemeanors with a probation sentence, now he’s looking at three felonies plus six misdemeanors.”
Honig then said that if Hunter’s lawyers take the case to trial and he is convicted he will face jail time, likely not the maximum 17 years, but some duration.
During the 2016-2019 period, Hunter spent more than $4 million on a lavish lifestyle including drugs, prostitutes, girlfriends, luxury vehicles and other goods, according to the indictment. Hunter was previously indicted in September on three federal gun charges, pleading not guilty to all.