(NEW YORK) — New Age Industries is recalling millions of furniture tip kits or tip restraints that were sold alongside clothing storage units in furniture stores across the U.S. and online.
New Age and Alliance4Safety, a coalition of furniture manufacturers, retailers and delivery servicers, said the plastic zip tie in the kits “can become brittle or break,” potentially causing clothing storage units anchored to a wall to detach and tip over.
Furniture tip-overs are hazardous and can lead to entrapment, serious injuries or in some cases, death, particularly in children.
The recalled tip kits, which consist of a plastic zip tie, two brackets and two screws, were labeled with a stamp or sticker with a manufacture date of November 2019 or later and were included in furniture that was made in Vietnam. The kit packaging also featured black lettering, furniture anchoring directions, and was labeled “Manufactured by New Age Industries” near the bottom.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 31 furniture companies are participating in the recall, including name brands like Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC, and Drew and Jonathan by Hooker Furnishings, one of the brands from HGTV stars Drew and Jonathan Scott of “Property Brothers.”
Ashley Furniture and Hooker Furnishings did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
According to the CPSC, there have been two reports of broken New Age tip kits received by furniture companies, but no injuries have been reported so far.
Consumers are encouraged to check if they have a recalled tip kit on the Alliance4Safety New Age recall website.
Anyone with a recalled kit can request a free replacement tip kit through the website, by toll-free phone at 855-416-7370 or email at info@alliance4safety.org.
Each year, about 8,900 pediatric emergency room injuries and 6,900 adult ER injuries are associated with a tip-over incident, according to a 2023 CPSC report. To prevent tip-overs, furniture like dressers and TV stands should be anchored to a wall. The CPSC offers instructions and more information on its AchorIt.gov website.
(NEW YORK) — The Federal Aviation Administration said it is conducting an investigation of Boeing after a defective door plug fell out of an Alaska Airlines plane last week, forcing an emergency landing.
“This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again,” the FAA said in a statement, noting it has formally notified Boeing of the probe.
The door plug for the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off a few minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland International Airport on Friday, depressurizing the cabin and exposing passengers to open air thousands of feet above ground. Passengers captured footage showing a hole where the door plug came loose.
Boeing said in a statement, “We will cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and the NTSB on their investigations.”
The FAA said its investigation will “determine if Boeing failed to ensure completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations.”
The Boeing probe is a result of the door plug incident and “additional discrepancies,” the FAA said.
“Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they’re legally accountable to meet,” the agency said.
Every Boeing 737 Max 9 with a plug door will remain grounded until the administration determines that each can safely return to operation, the FAA said Tuesday. The pause affects about 171 planes worldwide.
“The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 Max to service,” the FAA said Thursday.
The Alaska Airlines emergency incident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told employees on Tuesday that the company is “going to approach” the midair emergency by starting with an acknowledgment of “our mistake.”
“We’re going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way,” Calhoun said during a meeting with employees at the 737 production facility in Renton, Washington. “We are going to work with the NTSB who is investigating the accident itself to find out what the cause is.”
The focus of the NTSB investigation is on the single aircraft, but could be broadened as more is learned, board Chief Jennifer Homendy said.
“However, at some point, we may need to go broader. But right now we have to figure out how this occurred with this aircraft,” Homendy said Tuesday on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.”
The fittings at the top of the door plug fractured, Homendy said. The NTSB examination has shown that those fittings were fractured, allowing the plug door to move upward and outward, she said.
“We don’t know if the bolts were loose. We don’t know if bolts were in there fractured or possibly the bolts weren’t there at all,” she said. “We have to determine that back in our laboratory.”
On Monday, United Airlines said it had found loose bolts on its 737 Max 9 fleet during inspections ordered after Friday’s incident involving an Alaska Airlines flight.
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — For the past two months, Michael Strahan’s 19-year-old daughter Isabella has faced a private health battle, fighting medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor.
Isabella Strahan was a freshman at the University of Southern California when an MRI scan in October led to her diagnosis of medulloblastoma, a cancerous and fast-growing brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum, the back of the brain where movement and coordination are controlled, according to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, where she is being treated.
In an interview that aired Thursday on “Good Morning America,” Michael and Isabella Strahan spoke to Robin Roberts about their decision to share Isabella’s health issue publicly, describing it as a decision they hope will help others.
“This is something that is so personal that I didn’t know if it would be something that she would want to share,” Michael Strahan told Roberts. “But her idea was, ‘I want to share it and I want to help other people,’ and that goes into the spirit of who she’s always been.”
Isabella Strahan, a model who recently launched a campaign with Sephora, told Roberts that she doesn’t want to “hide” her cancer journey. Having undergone brain surgery in late October, followed by rehabilitation and six weeks of radiation treatment, she will soon begin a chemotherapy regimen led by doctors at Duke University, where her twin sister Sophia is a freshman.
“With my platform, I hope to just kind of be a voice and be a person who people who maybe are going through something similar, going through chemotherapy or radiation, can look at and just hear and just watch, or find something interesting about their day,” she said. “I’m just excited for that.”
This week, as she prepares to begin chemotherapy, she is also launching a YouTube series to document her journey, in partnership with Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center.
In addition to being a source of hope for others, Isabella Strahan’s decision to share her journey may also turn a spotlight on the need for more funding to develop better treatment options for brain tumors, particularly when it comes to children, according to the doctor overseeing her care, Dr. David Ashley, a neuro-oncologist and director of Duke University’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.
“It’s an important moment in history because we now have the tools to make the difference,” Ashley told “GMA.” “We know how these brain tumors work. We know the molecular biology. We have new therapies that we could put towards them, targeted therapies, immunotherapies, we just need the resources to put those things into action.”
Here are five questions answered about medulloblastoma:
1. Who is affected by medulloblastoma?
Medulloblastoma primarily affects young kids between the ages of 5 and 9, but can be diagnosed in people of all ages, according to Ashley.
He said that while there are some genetic conditions that can predispose a person to medulloblastoma, for others, including Isabella Strahan, who does not carry any of those genetic conditions, getting medulloblastoma is almost like a “lightning strike.”
Ashley said that with medulloblastoma, a tumor might emerge from precursor cells that are present from the time a person is in utero.
“We know that these tumors arise from seed cells in the brain, particularly in the back of the brain, so-called stem cells,” Ashley said. “It’s likely that the first events of these sorts of tumors happen either around or before the time of birth. At that point, it’s not a cancer, it’s probably a precancerous cell, and it sits there and, in a sense, gestates through someone’s life until another genetic or other event occurs within that cell that makes it grow into a tumor.”
Medulloblastoma is the “most common malignant brain tumor of childhood,” accounting for around 20% of all childhood brain tumors, according to estimates published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. Approximately 500 new cases of medulloblastoma are diagnosed in children each year in the United States.
2. What are symptoms of medulloblastoma to watch for?
Because medulloblastoma is located in the back of the brain, in the area that controls coordination, symptoms of the tumor can include clumsiness or difficulty walking, fatigue, changes in vision and hearing and changes in basic skills, like handwriting.
Ashley said that headaches are also a symptom of medulloblastoma, particularly if the headaches are persistent (i.e. lasting more than a few days); are associated with vomiting or a change in behavior, like difficulty walking; or represent a change, like a new or different patterns of headaches.
A strong, unbearable headache that appears suddenly can also be a symptom that should prompt medical attention, according to Ashley.
Because this cancer is rare and the tumors are fast-growing, Ashley says doctors do not recommended that everyday people get MRIs or other imaging as a preventative measure. Instead, people should seek medical care promptly if they experience new headaches or other neurological symptoms.
3. How is medulloblastoma treated?
The typical course of treatment for medulloblastoma is surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radiation and chemotherapy.
Each patient’s exact treatment plan for medulloblastoma though depends on several factors, including the location and type of tumor and whether or not the tumor has spread.
Medulloblastoma is divided into four molecular groups — SHH medulloblastoma, WNT medulloblastoma, Group 3 medulloblastoma and Group 4 medulloblastoma — that doctors use to help determine the right type of treatment, according to the National Cancer Institute.
4. What is the prognosis for people with medulloblastoma?
Just as with treatment, a person’s prognosis for surviving medulloblastoma depends on several factors, including the molecular group, as well as the patient’s age and whether the tumor has spread.
More than 70% of people survive five years past their diagnosis and beyond, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Children under the age of 3 diagnosed with medulloblastoma may have lower survival rates because the treatment options for that age group are limited, according to Ashley.
“Brain tumors are the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in childhood, and they cause enormous emotional and financial strain on families,” Ashley said. “We’ve got to do better at the treatments, which are inadequate. We do cure a lot of kids with brain tumors, but at the moment, many of those children are going to need radiation and chemotherapy, and that’s not right. We shouldn’t be doing that.”
5. What can be done to improve brain tumor research and treatment?
Ashley said he would like to see more funding directed to brain tumor research, given the number of people diagnosed each year with malignant, or cancerous, brain tumors — between 20,000 and 30,000 in the United States alone.
“I think this is a medical emergency,” Ashley said. “And there should be a large amount of funding towards research that helps people and ultimately can prevent brain tumors, or at least impact them more meaningfully.”
According to the Children’s Cancer Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on pediatric cancer research, childhood cancer research funding is less than 10% of the federal government funds available for research into adult cancers.
(NEW YORK) — A father and stepmother have been arrested for the murder of their 5-year-old son nearly 35 years after he was killed, authorities announced.
Victor Lee Turner and Megan R. Turner (formerly known as Pamela K. Turner) were taken into custody at their Cross Hill, South Carolina, home on Wednesday and charged with the cold case murder of Justin Lee Turner, according to Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis.
“I can’t think of a more tragic, horrendous murder,” Lewis said at a Wednesday news conference.
Megan Turner, then known as Pamela Turner, reported Justin missing on March 3, 1989, telling Berkeley County authorities that the 5-year-old never got off the school bus that afternoon, according to the probable cause affidavit.
But Lewis said authorities believe Justin was killed before he had the chance to go to school that morning.
Two days later, Victor Turner found his son’s strangled body hidden in the Turners’ pickup truck camper on their property, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Because Justin’s body, clothing and shoes didn’t have any outside debris, authorities believed he was carried from his home to the camper, the probable cause affidavit said. And the specific location of the 5-year-old’s body suggests it was hidden by someone familiar with the camper and its layout, and the Turners were the only ones with access and keys, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Before Justin’s body was found, Victor Turner was overheard “asking a law enforcement official at the scene, nervously while wringing his hands, what if someone had done harm to the Victim, such as killed him, and that [if that person] was in the family, what would happen to them?” the document said.
Investigators determined Justin died around the time he was last seen alive, and his father and stepmother were the last ones with him, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Justin’s stepmom later admitted to witnesses that she had an “altercation” with the 5-year-old before the time she said she last saw him alive, and she allegedly gave “misinformation to investigators” about her whereabouts that day, according to the probable cause affidavit.
At one point, Pamela Turner was arrested in connection with Justin’s death, but the case was dismissed without prejudice, the sheriff said. She then changed her name to Megan and she and Victor Turner moved out of Berkeley County and never contacted the sheriff’s office about the case again, according to Lewis.
In 2021, Justin’s cold case file was reviewed to see if the evidence could be reevaluated using new technology, the sheriff said.
Several pieces of evidence led to this week’s arrests, the sheriff said, including that investigators were able to narrow down time of death based on contents in Justin’s stomach and investigators used new forensic testing to “tie in the murder weapon that we believe was used to strangle Justin to clothing and fabric on his clothing at the time of his death.”
Forensic analysis found that a ligature recovered from the Turners’ home was likely the weapon used to strangle Justin, and when the Turners learned that evidence, including the ligature, was taken from the home, they allegedly “expressed concern and devised a plan to withhold/conceal potential evidence,” the probable cause affidavit said. The Turners allegedly “uttered spontaneous incriminating statements to indicate responsibility in the death of the victim and intent to conceal physical evidence,” the document said.
“Today Justin would’ve been 40 years old,” the sheriff said. “Could’ve graduated high school, went to college, got married, had a child, been a productive citizen.”
“All we want is justice,” Justin’s cousin, Amy Parsons, who was 8 at the time he was killed, said at Wednesday’s news conference. “And I want to see our justice system do what it was intended to do and put these two people where they deserve to be, because they’ve walked for 34 years … while our family has suffered.”
The Turners’ first court appearances are scheduled for March 15. It was not immediately clear if they had attorneys.
(NEW YORK) — Trevor Bickford is expected to plead guilty Thursday to federal charges stemming from a 2022 New Year’s Eve knife attack on three New York Police Department officers manning a checkpoint on the Times Square periphery, according to sources.
Bickford, who was 19 when he carried out the alleged attack, came from Maine in December 2022 intending to carry out a jihadist attack on officers in uniform, prosecutors said.
He was charged with four counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the U.S. government and persons assisting them, according to a federal complaint.
Bickford allegedly told investigators the attack was unsuccessful because none of the officers died and because he did not achieve martyrdom, according to the complaint from the Southern District of New York.
Bickford was shot and arrested by officers on Dec. 31, 2022, after he allegedly attacked three NYPD officers with an 18-inch kukri knife near West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue, outside the secure area that had been set up for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The attack prompted security adjustments for this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square.
It was not immediately clear what charge or charges Bickford would plead guilty to or what, if anything, he might receive in return from federal prosecutors.
He faces separate charges by the Manhattan district attorney.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that could be the closest-known relative of the famed Tyrannosaurus rex.
The jaw of the dinosaur was found in 1983 by civilians boating in the Elephant Butte reservoir in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, told ABC News. After boaters alerted the museum to their finding, a subsequent search of the area by paleontologists uncovered additional dinosaur bones, and another dig in the 1990s led to the findings of even more, Lucas said.
The scientists initially assumed that the fossils they found, the jaw and part of the skull, belonged to Tyrannosaurus rex, the famed large theropod dinosaur that existed 66 million to 68 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. But in the last 20 years, further study of the jaw indicated that it was a new species entirely, Lucas said.
The new species has since been dubbed Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis, according to a paper published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
The general shape of the jaw of the new species of Tyrannosaurus is similar to the T. rex, but there are two key components in which they are different, Anthony Fiorello, executive director of New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, told ABC News. The jaw of the Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis is much more slender than what you see in the robust lower jaw of the T. rex, which implies a different way of processing food, Fiorello said.
The other difference lies in the prominent ridge, postorbital bone, the bone around the eye, which could have something to do with how the species attracted mates, Fiorello said.
“Those are some pretty key biological differences,” he said.
Further tests also indicated that this species of Tyrannosaurus existed 70 to 73 million years ago, up to five million years earlier than T. rex, leaving scientists to ponder whether it could possibly be a predecessor to the ferocious predator, Fiorello said.
The researchers hope to gather more data to get a precise geologic age of the fossil, Lucas said.
The fossil is also unique in that it was found at least 100 miles away from sea coasts, Lucas said, adding that most of the dinosaur fossils of this age that are found in the Western United States, were of animals that lived right near the sea coast — within 1 mile or 10 miles, sometimes 50 miles away from the sea.
“We’re looking at a dinosaur fauna that’s living in a rather unique environment,” he said.
Lucas described the discovery of new dinosaur species as “the joy of paleontology.”
“When you go over the hill, and you find that fossil, you’re the first human being that’s ever seen that animal in millions and millions of years,” he said. “On top of it, in this case, we’ve got a whole new species of animal that was not known to science before.”
On Thursday, the fossil was put on display for the public at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque.
“So for anybody who wants to see the actual fossil, they can come here and see it,” Lucas said.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $370 million civil lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric Trump and and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives are accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump’s net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The trial comes after the judge in the case ruled in a partial summary judgment that Trump had submitted “fraudulent valuations” for his assets, leaving the trial to determine additional actions and what penalty, if any, the defendants should receive.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have argued that Trump’s alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 11, 9:34 AM
Trump, James arrive at courthouse for closing arguments
Donald Trump has arrived via motorcade at the lower Manhattan courthouse where closing arguments are scheduled to take place.
The former president pulled up shortly after New York Attorney General Letitia James arrived.
Traffic around the courthouse was briefly disrupted about half an hour before Trump’s arrival by a group of protesters chanting “No dictators in the USA” as they waved signs and displayed a large banner.
Jan 11, 8:38 AM
Judge receives bomb threat ahead of closing arguments
Judge Arthur Engoron received a bomb threat at his New York home this morning, just hours before closing arguments are scheduled in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, according to a court official.
In light of the threat, the court is adding additional security for the judge, the court official said.
Nassau County Police bomb technicians responded to Engoron’s home out of an abundance of caution. Nassau County Police notified the court system of the threat, which they say they have determined to be unfounded.
Today’s court proceedings are expected to proceed as planned.
Jan 11, 8:23 AM
Trump to attend court, still hopes to present closing statement
Donald Trump is set to attend his civil fraud trial today, where he still hopes to participate in the defense’s closing statement despite Judge Arthur Engoron rejecting that request yesterday.
The former president last night dismissed the idea that spending time in the courtroom is impacting his campaign ahead of Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
“No — we’re leading by record numbers,” Trump told ABC News.
The defense team’s closings are scheduled to take place from 10:15 a.m. ET to 12:45 p.m. ET, while the state’s closing is scheduled from 2:15 p.m. ET to 4:30 p.m. ET.
The defense plans to use most of its allotted time, and the attorney general’s office has indicated their closing statement would run roughly one hour, according to emails shared on the court’s docket yesterday.
(NEW YORK) — New York City officials said they have issued vacate orders due to an illegally constructed “underground tunnel” connected to a Chabad synagogue complex where chaos erupted this week over the secret passageway.
Engineers with the city’s Department of Buildings have been investigating the site since Tuesday morning, a day after police responded to reports of a damaged wall at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn.
Police said they responded to 911 calls of a disorderly group outside the headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights on Monday night. Responding officers were informed that a group of individuals “unlawfully entered 770 Eastern Parkway by damaging a wall,” the NYPD said.
When the synagogue moved to repair the wall, the men tried to stop it, according to a Chabad spokesperson.
Video shot by witnesses showed police confronting men standing within a space inside a brick wall. Others could be seen tossing desks while officers handcuffed some of the men in front of a damaged wall.
Police arrested nine men between the ages of 19 and 22 on criminal mischief and reckless endangerment charges. The headquarters was temporarily closed pending a review of the structural integrity of the building.
The NYC Department of Buildings said Wednesday that following an “extensive investigation,” they determined that a tunnel had been “illegally excavated” under a single-story extension located behind the four-story buildings at 784 and 786 Eastern Parkway.
The tunnel is approximately 60 feet long, 8 feet wide, and with a ceiling height of 5 feet and connects four neighboring buildings — including those at 784 and 786 Eastern Parkway, the DOB said.
The passageway was constructed without approval and permits from the DOB and had inadequate rudimentary shoring in place, the agency said. The tunnel was found to be empty except for dirt, tools and debris from the workers, and wall openings were found in several areas of the adjacent buildings, it said.
Engineers determined the excavation work caused structural stability issues to two single-story extensions — the one located above the tunnel and another connected to it — and partial vacate orders have been issued for both buildings, the DOB said.
The DOB said it has also issued a full vacate order to a two-story building at 302 Kingston Ave., which is connected to the tunnel, due to fire safety concerns after fire-rated walls were removed in the cellar and on the first floor. The other neighboring structures are not impacted, it said.
The agency said it has additionally issued emergency work orders to the owners of the properties to stabilize the buildings above the tunnel, as well as two work without permit violations for the illegal work.
“The safety of our fellow New Yorkers is our highest priority at the Department of Buildings,” DOB spokesperson Andrew Rudansky said in a statement on Wednesday. “We will continue to monitor the progress of this emergency stabilization work, and if necessary, we are ready to take additional actions that may be required in the interest of public safety.”
The owners of the buildings are making preparations to start the emergency work, the DOB said.
A cement truck was seen at the site Wednesday evening.
ABC News did not immediately receive a response from a Chabad spokesperson for comment on the DOB’s investigation.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the passageway was constructed and for what purpose.
Following Monday’s incident, Chabad spokesperson Motti Seligson said in a statement on X that a “group of extremist students” broke through walls in properties adjacent to the synagogue “some time ago” to “provide them unauthorized access.”
“Earlier [Monday], a cement truck was brought in to repair those walls,” Seligson said. “Those efforts were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access.”
The Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters said in a statement that it was “pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue,” located below the headquarters.
“These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored,” the statement continued. “Our thanks to the NYPD for their professionalism and sensitivity.”
(TAHOE CITY, Calif.) — One person was killed in an avalanche at the Palisades Tahoe resort on the California side of Lake Tahoe, authorities said.
Authorities have identified the victim of the avalanche as 66-year-old Kenneth Kidd, who is a resident of both Point Reyes and the Truckee area.
The death marks the first U.S. avalanche fatality of the 2023-2024 winter season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
No one has been reported missing and search efforts have concluded, Placer County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. David Smith said during a press briefing Wednesday.
The man who died was buried in the avalanche, Michael Gross, the vice president of mountain operations at Palisades Tahoe, told reporters.
Another person suffered a leg injury in the avalanche, authorities said. Both were guests visiting the resort from outside the area, Gross said.
No other details on the deceased victim are being released at this time.
Two people who got caught in the slide had minor injuries, resort officials said.
The avalanche’s debris field is about 150 feet wide, 450 feet long and 10 feet deep, according to the sheriff’s office.
Palisades Tahoe Resort said the avalanche was reported around 9:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The slide occurred near the KT-22 lift, which opened for the first time on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
The resort said both sides of the mountain are closed.
“This is a very sad day for my team and everyone here,” Palisades Resort CEO and president Dee Byrne said during the press briefing.
Byrne said the incident remains under investigation and called the situation “dynamic.”
“We have a lot to learn yet,” she said.
The avalanche comes as a strong storm has blanketed much of the Sierra Nevada mountains with snow this week. Snow is ongoing and the Tahoe area will likely see an additional foot or more of snowfall Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.
Hunter Biden attends the House Oversight and Accountability Committee markup titled “Resolution Recommending That The House Of Representatives Find Robert Hunter Biden In Contempt Of Congress,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden is scheduled to make his initial appearance in a California courtroom on federal tax charges Thursday — a day after making a surprise appearance at a Capitol Hill hearing on whether to hold him in contempt of Congress.
The younger Biden will appear before Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar at the Edward R. Roybal courthouse in Los Angeles and be arraigned on nine tax-related charges accusing him of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2020.
The indictment from December alleges that the president’s son earned millions of dollars from foreign entities in Ukraine, Romania and China, and “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle at the same time he chose not to pay his taxes.”
The back taxes were eventually paid in 2020 by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden’s attorney and confidant Kevin Morris.
The charges came after an initial plea deal fell apart in dramatic fashion in a Delaware federal courtroom last July, after the judge expressed concerns over the terms of the agreement.
Hunter Biden subsequently pleaded not guilty in October to three felony gun charges as part of a separate indictment in Delaware that came after a diversion agreement on one of the gun charges fell apart alongside the initial plea deal. He has since moved to have those charges dismissed.
The indictment was brought by special counsel David Weiss, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware who had been investigating Hunter Biden and was named special counsel over the summer.
In response to the tax charges, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, claimed the December indictment included “no new evidence” and said, “Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought.”
Hunter Biden’s court appearance in California on Thursday comes a day after he surprised lawmakers in Washington by showing up in person to a House Oversight committee hearing on whether to hold him in contempt after he refused a subpoena to testify in a closed-door session as part of a GOP-led probe into his family’s business affairs.
The younger Biden, whose appearance caught Republicans on the committee completely by surprise, said that he would be willing to testify in a public forum.
Lowell, speaking to reporters after leaving the hearing room Wednesday, accused Republicans of caring “little about the truth” and trying to “hold someone in contempt, who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions.”
“Hunter Biden was and is a private citizen,” Lowell said. “Despite this, Republicans have sought to use him as a surrogate to attack his father.”
A White House spokesperson has said that President Joe Biden “was never in business with his son.”
In 2019, as a presidential candidate, Biden said, “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”
