President Biden's son Hunter arraigned on tax charges in LA federal court media circus
I joined the courthouse media mob for the routine arraignment.
President Joe Biden’s son Robert Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to nine tax-related crimes Thursday at the new federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
“We’re here today because you've been accused by the United States of a criminal offense,” U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden in front of a packed courtroom gallery.
Identifying himself as “Robert Hunter Biden,” Biden said “not guilty” when Scarsi asked how he pled to his nine charges.
Judge Scarsi said he reviewed filings in the Delaware case to get an idea of what could be coming in his case.
“It would not surprise me if the same issues raised in Delaware are raised here,” he said.
Biden, 53, is represented by prominent defense lawyer Abbe Lowell, a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP in Washington, D.C., and New York City who also represents Biden in the Delaware gun case. His local counsel is Los Angeles-based Winston partner Angela Machala.
Scarsi, a 2020 Donald Trump appointee, said he may allow up to 20 pages for pre-trial briefs instead of the standard 10, noting that he saw a filing in the Delaware case that was 70 pages but doesn’t want to go that high.
The judge said discovery disclosure is limited regarding prosecutorial decisions but could be more expansive regarding others. Lowell said he’ll be making the same argument that he’s made in Delaware about "undue interference in the process” regarding Biden’s plea deal that fell apart last summer.
"We had a resolution of this case in the summer of 2023, and then things happened," Lowell said Thursday.
Special Counsel Leo Wise responded that what happened wasn’t unusual and “pleas fall apart all the time” and high-profile people can face prosecution.
Trial is scheduled for June 20. With motions due on March 27 and a hearing scheduled June 3. That should change if Biden waives his speedy trial rights, but Scarsi said on Monday, “I’m kind of keeping you on a tight schedule. We like to move things along.”
Biden was released on his own recognizance under the same conditions he’s on in the Delaware case, which including not being able to possess guns or consume alcohol, illegal drugs or marijuana. He’s being supervised by U.S. District Court’s pre-trial services and must hand over financial information, including state and court tax documents.
Biden was charged last month with six misdemeanors and three felonies. The 56-page indictment charges Biden, who lives in Malibu, with not paying “at least $1.4 million” in self-assessed taxes between 2016 through 2019. It is, as Kyle Cheney of Politico wrote, “a cornucopia of vice — showing the president’s son spending lavishly on sex, drugs, porn, cars and luxury hotels while skipping tax payments.”
A keyword search for “exotic” brings up four hits.
The indictment was secured by special counsel David Weiss, who already has gun-related charges against Biden in Delaware.
Politico reports that Weiss discussed partnering on the Biden prosecution with Central District U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in fall 2022, but Estrada told congressional investigators that he declined to “co-counsel” the case.
“Instead, Estrada said he offered Weiss office space and administrative support,” according to Politico.
Weiss’ team negotiated a plea deal with Biden for misdemeanor tax counts that ended up collapsing after a federal judge criticized it. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland then gave Weiss the power to bring criminal charges anywhere in the country, and Weiss filed the gun charges in Delaware in September.
Thursday’s hearing in Los Angeles was Biden’s first appearance as well as his arraignment and a status conference. It lasted less than 30 minutes.
Biden did not enter the courthouse through the main entrance. He was driven into the underground garage where the judges park.
A huge crowd of media filled the sidewalk outside for hours awaiting Biden’s arrival. It stayed that way for at least 20 minutes after the proceeding as we waited to see if Biden or his lawyers would speak, which they didn’t do. As the media mob waited, a man repeated into a bullhorn, “Hunter’s laptop! Hunter’s crack pipe! Where’s CNN at?” or some variation.
One national network sent at least 12 people to the courthouse. Many others flew across the country to cover the routine proceeding. Approximately 36 journalists and other media representatives were allowed in the courtroom. Security differentiated between journalists and members of the public, so journalists were turned away even though there was still room in the courtroom.
Likely under the direction of U.S. Secret Service, courthouse staff had everyone lock their phones in pouches before going in the courtroom. No one was allowed to bring laptops in, but the courthouse didn’t provide a place to put them, so people left them in the hallway and hoped for the best. Someone checked everyone with one of those portable metal detector things before they went inside the courtroom.
There was an overflow room on the first floor, which is where I watched the proceeding. I normally might care about not getting into the courtroom, but this one hit different. I was happier chatting with all the extra courtroom security officers who were on hand, including some of my old friends from the Orange County courthouse.
As someone who’s covered trials at that courthouse for several years, I have to take a moment to explicitly state how silly it all was. I know Hunter Biden is the president’s son, but a huuuuuuuge media contingency was there for a routine proceeding, when tons of interesting and important cases unfold in that courthouse all the time with absolutely zero interest from national media.
We also should talk about the fact that there are journalists at local news outlets who haven’t been allowed to go anywhere for a story in years, but huge national TV outlets spend tons of travel money to cover a routine arraignment. I thought it was appropriate that I noticed a new It’s All Journalism podcast interview I did while I was waiting to get inside the courthouse, and the headline is, “Legacy media is failing to give people the news they really want.”
When I posted a photo from outside the courthouse on TikTok, someone took the time to comment, “dont care free thug,” which reminds me, check out my TikTok and YouTube pages for digestible clips from Young Thug’s racketeering conspiracy trial in Atlanta.
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