Hunter Biden indicted: A federal grand jury has returned a nine-count indictment charging Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, with three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses. The case is being brought in the District Court for the Central District of California by Special Counsel David Weiss, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. According to the indictment, Biden engaged in a four-year scheme in which he allegedly chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to allegedly evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns. Hunter Biden has since paid to the Internal Revenue Service all of the taxes, penalties and interest that were due. The indictment alleged that Biden spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills and included false business deductions in order to reduce his tax liability. If convicted on all counts, Biden could face up to 17 years in federal prison.
Unemployment goes down: Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000 in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.7%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care and government. Employment also increased in manufacturing. Employment in retail trade declined. The number of unemployed persons showed little change at 6.3 million. Employment growth is below the average monthly gain of 240,000 over the prior 12 months but is in line with job growth in recent months.
Trump’s false claim: Donald Trump yesterday went to the Manhattan courtroom where he, two of his children and his companies are on trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit seeking $250 million for bank, insurance and tax fraud. Outside the courtroom, Trump claimed that he was being forced to attend the trial when, in fact, there is no legal requirement for him to have been there. Trump claimed that he was being forced to be in court so he’d have to stop campaigning for president for the day. Trump’s attorneys may have him take the stand to testify under oath on Monday as part of the defense case.
Putin declares candidacy: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin today announced his candidacy for another six-year term as Russia’s president. Putin is certain to win the election. Putin’s serious political opponents are either in prison or exile and he has shut down opposition organizations and independent news sources. Voting will be held for three days beginning March 15 and people living in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia will be able to vote.
Israel intensifies attacks: The White House says that President Biden has talked with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu for the 16th time since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Today marks the beginning of the third month of the current war. The White House says that Biden told Netanyahu that Israel must protect civilians in Gaza and that more aid for civilians urgently is required. Israel has stepped up its air strikes on Gaza, reporting this morning it hit about 450 targets in the past 24 hours. U.N. officials said civil order has broken down in Gaza and society is on the verge of collapse as looting and lawlessness run wild.
Tracking more rail projects: President Biden was due to announce $8.2 billion in new spending for 10 railroad projects in the U.S. during his visit to Las Vegas today. Included is about $3 billion for a new high-speed rail service between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California, with links to Los Angeles and San Francisco. As envisioned, there would be trains running at up to 220 miles an hour. Last month, $16.4 billion in new spending was announced for 25 rail projects in the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C.
