Hunter Biden in 'an Awful Lot of Trouble'—Donald Trump Lawyer

Will Scharf, a lawyer for Donald Trump, reacted to Hunter Biden's indictment on Thursday, saying President Joe Biden's son is in "an awful lot of trouble."

Federal prosecutors on Thursday filed charges against Hunter Biden, alleging he schemed to evade paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 to 2019. The nine-count indictment, brought by Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel David Weiss, includes three felonies and six misdemeanors including failure to file and pay taxes, false tax return and evasion of assessment.

Prosecutors allege Hunter Biden spent his 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," according to the indictment that was filed in California, and said he avoided tax "wilfully" in those years "despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes."

Newsweek has contacted the White House by email for comment.

Reacting to the news of the indictment, Scharf, a member of Trump's legal team and a former assistant U.S. attorney, said Hunter Biden could face jail time of up to five years over these charges.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the lawyer, who is also a 2024 Republican candidate for Missouri attorney general, wrote: "With the sweetheart deal previously offered to him now off the table, Hunter is in an awful lot of trouble."

In June, Weiss, who has been investigating the president's son since 2018, said he had reached a plea deal with Hunter Biden in which he would plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor tax violations while entering a pre-trial diversion program on a separate felony gun charge.

He was expected to plead guilty to charges that he lied about not being addicted to drugs when purchasing a firearm in 2018, according to another indictment against Hunter Biden in September, as part of this deal. But in July, the president's son pleaded not guilty to the charges after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, expressed concern about the plea deal.

In his Thursday X post, Scharf also wrote: "If he [Hunter Biden] were to go to trial and be convicted of all of these counts, based on my calculations, the advisory federal sentencing guidelines range for him could easily reach 4–5 years' imprisonment. Even if he were to plead guilty to these counts, his guidelines range sentence would likely be around 3 years. That is a lot of prison time for the son of a sitting president."

He also criticized the president for defending his son, and accusing him of being "a liar."

Newsweek contacted Scharf on social media to provide additional comment.

In a press release announcing charges against Hunter Biden, the DOJ said Thursday that he could face a maximum of 17 years in prison if convicted.

Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, responded to the new charges in a press statement and said that "if Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought."

"First, U.S. Attorney Weiss bowed to Republican pressure to file unprecedented and unconstitutional gun charges to renege on a non-prosecution resolution. Now, after five years of investigating with no new evidence—and two years after Hunter paid his taxes in full—the U.S. Attorney has piled on nine new charges when he had agreed just months ago to resolve this matter with a pair of misdemeanors," he said.

Meanwhile, Trump is currently facing four criminal indictments and a total of 91 felony charges—two involving alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, one regarding the alleged mishandling of classified documents that he retained when he left the White House, and one regarding hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied any wrongdoing in all of his cases.