What to know as jury selection begins in Hunter Biden’s federal tax trial

(LOS ANGELES) — More than a year after a plea deal between prosecutors and Hunter Biden collapsed, jury selection in the federal tax trial of President Joe Biden’s son is scheduled to begin this morning in a Los Angeles federal courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi plans to seat 12 jurors and four alternates for a trial that is expected to throw Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, his struggles with addiction, and his lavish spending into the spotlight.

Prosecutors allege that Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on exotic cars, clothing, escorts, drugs, and luxury hotels. He has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that includes six misdemeanor charges of failure to pay, plus a felony tax evasion charge and two felony charges of filing false returns.

All back taxes and penalties were eventually paid in full by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden confidant Kevin Morris.

The trial comes three months after Hunter Biden was convicted by a Delaware jury on three felony charges related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs. His sentencing in that case is scheduled for Nov. 13.

If convicted in Los Angeles, Hunter Biden faces a maximum combined sentence of up to 17 years in prison.

After two days of jury selection this week, opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin on Monday. Prosecutors expect to spend six days presenting their case, and Hunter Biden’s team has said it would spend two days on his defense.

Here’s what to know about the proceedings:

How will jury selection work?

Judge Scarsi plans to use a similar process used in Hunter Biden’s Delaware trial — where jury selection took one day — to select the jury in the Los Angeles trial. One hundred and twenty potential jurors from from Los Angeles and six nearby counties are expected to be summoned for jury selection on Thursday.

The jury selection process will center on a lengthy questionnaire that includes 50 questions on topics including prospective jurors’ interactions with law enforcement and their experiences filing taxes.

Four of the questions directly address Hunter Biden’s unique position as a criminal defendant whose father is the president of the United States, including asking if prospective jurors’ thoughts on the upcoming presidential election would impact their decision-making and whether they believe law enforcement agencies make decisions based on politics.

“Do you believe Robert Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case or is not being prosecuted in other cases because his father is the President of the United States and was until recently a candidate for President?” one question asks.

Five questions also touch on addiction, including if potential jurors have family members who suffer from substance abuse issues or if they have experience with addiction treatment and counseling.

“Do you believe someone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol should not be charged with a crime?” another question asks.

What do prosecutors allege?

In their 56-page indictment, prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden willfully avoided paying taxes by subverting his company’s own payroll system, that he failed to pay his taxes on time despite having the money to do so, and that he included false information in his 2018 tax returns.

“[T]he defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” the indictment alleged.

Prosecutors also highlighted millions of dollars that Hunter Biden received from overseas business in Ukraine, China, and Romania in exchange for “almost no work.”

Although Hunter Biden eventually paid back all his back taxes and penalties with the help of a third party, Judge Scarsi blocked defense attorneys from introducing that information to the jury.

“Evidence of late payment here is irrelevant to Mr. Biden’s state of mind at the time he allegedly committed the charged crimes,” Scarsi wrote in an order last week.

Why is this going to trial?

Last June, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor offenses, acknowledging that he failed to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. The deal also allowed him to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid criminal charges related to his 2018 firearm purchase.

Had the deal worked out, Hunter Biden would have likely faced probation for the tax offenses and had his gun charge dropped if he adhered to the terms of his diversion agreement.

However, the plea deal fell apart during a contentious hearing before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who took issue with the structure of the deal.

By September, special counsel David Weiss had unsealed an indictment in Delaware charging Hunter Biden for lying on a federal form when he purchased a firearm in 2018.

The federal indictment in Los Angeles for the tax crimes followed in December.