On Thursday, a nine-count indictment was issued in California for Hunter Biden concerning tax violations, as an investigation into the financial activities of the son of President Joe Biden escalates with the 2024 election on the horizon.

Hunter Biden faces nine charges in total, three of which are felonies, after the collapse of a plea agreement that could have kept him out of jail. The federal firearms charges in Delaware, which allege that he violated laws against drug users having guns in 2018, are included. With the case expected to proceed to trial, it comes at a time when his father is running for reelection.

David Weiss, the special counsel, pointed out that Hunter Biden had “shelled out millions of dollars to live a lavish lifestyle” instead of settling his taxes. Allegations have been made that Hunter Biden has failed to pay taxes amounting to over $1.4 million during the period of 2016 to 2019, which he has accepted was a difficult time due to his addiction issues. Nevertheless, the taxes have since been paid in full.

Hunter Biden, 53, faces a potential maximum of 17 years of imprisonment if found guilty. The investigation conducted by the special counsel is still ongoing, according to Weiss.

Abbe Lowell, the defense lawyer, made an angry reply and accused Weiss of succumbing to the GOP’s pressure in the legal matter.

According to the legal facts, Lowell argued in a statement that had Hunter Biden not been related to the current president, the charges brought against him in Delaware and California would not have occurred.

On Thursday, the White House refused to issue a statement in response to the indictment and referred inquiries to the Justice Department or to the people representing Hunter Biden.

The filings in California, where he resides, showed that money was spent on illicit drugs, exotic dancers, swanky accommodations, and deluxe cars, “in other words, all kinds of things, but not his taxes,” Leo Wise, the prosecutor, commented.

Congressional Republicans are proceeding with an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, alleging he was involved in a bribery arrangement with his son. The House is likely to vote in the coming week to officially launch the probe.

Originally, it was anticipated that the extended criminal inquiry into Hunter Biden would end with a plea bargain where he would receive two years of probation upon confessing to misdemeanor tax offenses and would stay clear of any prosecution for the gun accusation if he kept his record clean.

Republicans, heavily criticized the agreement as a “sweetheart deal”.

On Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) praised two IRS agents for bringing forward the new charges. The agents had testified that the Justice Department had conducted the investigation into the president’s son improperly and at a slow pace, a claim that Justice officials have denied.

Hunter Biden is now facing accusations of filing a false tax return, evading taxes, and not filing or paying taxes, which are felonies and misdemeanors respectively.

Defense attorneys have asserted that immunity provisions of the original plea deal are still valid since it was signed by a prosecutor, and they have pointed out their intention to contest the new charges based on this.

Prosecutors counter that the documents in question are not valid because they lack a judge’s signature.

Lowell declared that he will be attempting to get the gun charges dropped in the following week, referring to those charges as “groundbreaking and not in accord with the Constitution.”

In Delaware, Hunter Biden was accused of three federal gun offenses due to his alleged untruthful statements about his drug use while trying to obtain a firearm. A federal statute prohibits gun ownership for habitual drug users, although there has been some contention over the single charge by a federal appeals court.

Court documents and Hunter Biden’s memoir “Beautiful Things” attest to the fact that his battle with substance abuse grew worse after the passing of his brother Beau Biden in 2015. The book concludes with his cleaning up in the year 2019.

Prosecutors declared that, despite this, his total income over the period of 2016 to 2020 amounted to approximately $7 million due to his involvement on the board of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, a Chinese private equity fund, as well as his job at a law firm.

In 2020, Hunter managed to finally file his taxes, although he was in the midst of a child-support case in Arkansas. Prosecutors have stated that the back taxes were taken care of by an outside source.