President Joe Biden hugged his son Hunter after the men left The Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills, where they celebrated Hunter's 54th birthday.
First Lady Jill Biden joined them at the restaurant but did not leave with them. Hunter's young son Beau, 3, came out with his father and grandfather. President Biden bent down to give his grandson a kiss.
The first couple was in town for campaign events and made an unscheduled stop at the popular celebrity brunch spot. On Saturday, the late Beau Biden's birthday, Joe and Jill Biden visited his grave in Wilmington, Del., before heading to the West Coast.
Hunter Biden is the only living son of the president and first lady. As his father runs for re-election, he faces numerous legal problems, including a subpoena from House Republicans to testify about his business dealings.
Republicans accuse Joe Biden of financially benefiting from Hunter, who used his father's political position to promote business practices. The president has repeatedly said he had nothing to do with Hunter's business dealings.
But Hunter has become a political issue in the president's re-election campaign as Republicans lambast him for alleged corruption by the Biden family. The president has clearly expressed his support for his son.
President Joe Biden hugs son Hunter
President Biden leans down to give grandson Beau a kiss
Beau Biden dated Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden
Joe and Jill Biden visited son Beau's grave in Wilmington, Del. on Saturday
In January, Hunter Biden sparked utter chaos in Congress when he made a shocking appearance before Republicans who threatened to hold him in contempt.
He missed a congressional hearing and sat in the front row with his lawyers for a few minutes before storming out. Republicans ripped Hunter for the “made-for-TV publicity stunt.”
He agreed to appear for private testimony before House Republicans next month, ending months of opposition. He had insisted on testifying publicly, but Republicans refused. Hunter relented to avoid contempt of Congress' allegations.
The House Oversight Committee said Hunter would testify behind closed doors on Feb. 28.
Hunter is currently facing weapons possession charges brought by special prosecutor David Weiss, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Hunter Biden has gone on the offensive after being hit with three federal charges related to his 2018 handgun purchase and facing an investigation into his taxes. He has sued the IRS over the disclosure of his tax information, which he says should remain confidential.
House Republicans are also investigating whether the policy had an impact on decisions to bring charges against Hunter Biden after a deal with federal prosecutors failed.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss and Hunter's lawyers agreed to a deal in July that required the president's son to plead guilty in federal court in Delaware to two counts of failing to pay his taxes in exchange for the public prosecutor's recommendation for probation.
A separate felony gun charge for illegally possessing the Colt Cobra .38 specialty handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden had complied with the terms of a so-called diversion agreement.
The plea deal, which Republicans called a “sweetheart deal,” collapsed in a Delaware courtroom when the presiding judge began questioning some of its details, including one that theoretically cleared Hunter Biden of other tax crimes during the same period would protect.
Prosecutors said this was not the case. Hunter's lawyers said that was the case. The agreement failed. The three federal indictments related to the gun purchase were announced earlier this month.
In two cases the prison sentence is a maximum of ten years, in the third case a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.
President Joe Biden, son Hunter Biden and grandson Beau Biden leave The Ivy together
Beau watches President Biden hug Hunter
Baby Beau, 3, is President Biden's youngest grandson and named after the president's late son
Joe and Jill Biden arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday
Hunter entered the committee hearing room with his attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris, and sat in the front row
Hunter Biden showed up on Capitol Hill at the start of an indictment to accuse him of contempt of Congress
Meanwhile, the president caused chaos in Los Angeles on Saturday when his motorcade delayed the start of a college basketball game and protesters flooded the streets where he was.
After arriving in the city of Angeles, Biden headed straight to George Lucas' home in Bel Air, where he courted entertainment leaders in the city for the Grammys.
But his motorcade, made up of about two dozen vehicles and closing the streets to all traffic so the president could be transported quickly, caused massive delays and was greeted by students protesting the war in the Middle East.
Biden had no public events on his schedule for his Los Angeles trip. The White House said he was attending a “campaign event” on Saturday evening.
According to ESPN, the men's basketball game between UCLA and the University of Oregon at Pauley Pavilion was delayed for about 25 minutes after motorcade traffic caused the visiting team from Oregon to arrive late.
The Oregon team stayed at the same West Beverly Hills hotel where President Biden was staying. Located just a few blocks from the UCLA campus, the hotel is heavily secured due to the presidential visit.
The game finally started and UCLA won 71-63.
In addition, the hotel was attacked by protesters on Saturday evening. Both President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden lived there. While Biden was at George Lucas's home, Jill Biden spoke at a gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood in support of a nonprofit that is asking retailers to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands.
Outside the Bidens' hotel, cars honked and shouts could be heard as people voiced their objections to Israel's attack on Gaza.
And about 75 protesters were in front of the hotel.
The road leading to the hotel was blocked by police. LAPD and Secret Service officers were on scene, some with riot gear and rubber bullets.
Several student organizations took part in the protests.
President Biden exits Marine One to board his motorcade in Santa Monica
The University of Oregon men's basketball team was staying in the same hotel with President Joe Biden and motorcade traffic caused a 30-minute delay in the start time
Biden has been followed by protesters at his campaign stops, including some during his last visit to Los Angeles in December (above).
Biden has been plagued by protesters at his events in recent months as calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East grow louder. The last time he was in Los Angeles in December, he was also chased by demonstrators.
There have been clashes between demonstrators and police at recent election rallies.
According to the Daily Bruin, Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA and UC Divest at UCLA shared a live video on Instagram Saturday afternoon titled “GENOCIDE JOE” that shows cars driving through Westwood while passengers inside wave Palestinian flags.
At Biden's campaign rally in Michigan on Thursday, the clash between protesters and police lasted about 30 minutes. Dozens of protesters stood inches away from local police officers. Teams of riot police with helmets and batons were brought in to reinforce the situation.
Protesters called the president “Genocide Joe” and chanted slogans such as “Biden, Biden, you are a liar, we demand a ceasefire” and “Biden, Biden, you can't hide, we accuse you of genocide.”
At a campaign rally in Virginia last month, more than a dozen protesters were escorted out after repeatedly interrupting the president.
In recent weeks, American troops have been attacked in the Middle East.
The US has retaliated for the attacks, particularly after three American soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Jordan last weekend.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are greeted by (from left) Senator Alex Padilla, his son Diego Cruz Padilla and Representative Maxine Waters upon their arrival in Los Angeles
President Biden meets with entertainment leaders at George Lucas and Mellody Hobson's Bel Air home (shown above in 2016).
A day after the U.S. military struck Tehran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a deadly attack, the United States and Britain struck 36 Houthi targets in Yemen.
“We intend to take additional attacks and additional measures to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked, when our people are killed,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.
The attacks are the latest blows in a conflict that has spread across the Middle East since Oct. 7, when the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed Israel from the Gaza Strip, sparking a war.
The US has carried out more than a dozen strikes against Houthi targets in recent weeks.
Major shipping lines have largely abandoned Red Sea shipping routes and switched to longer routes through Africa. This has increased costs, raised concerns about global inflation and deprived Egypt of important foreign revenue from its use of the Suez Canal.
The US attacks in Iraq were the deadliest in years.
Meanwhile, Biden is traveling to Las Vegas for political events on Sunday afternoon. Biden's stop comes as Nevada completes early voting for the presidential preference primary. Election day for the primary is Tuesday, February 6th.
He will speak to voters in the city's historic West Side district about what is at stake in the election, his campaign team said.