Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, pleaded guilty to federal tax charges on Thursday, in a surprise move that could avoid a potentially embarrassing trial weeks before the US presidential election.
The decision to plead guilty to felony charges and other lesser offenses without receiving the benefits of a plea deal came hours after he was supposedly due to begin jury selection in the casein which he is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
The last-minute guilty plea allows Hunter Biden to avoid a second criminal trial within months. He was found guilty in June in Delaware of three felony counts for a firearm he purchased in 2018.
Earlier on Thursday, his lawyer filed the appeal, surprising prosecutors who urged the judge to reject the rare plea that would allow the president’s son to maintain his innocence.
More than 100 potential jurors had been brought to the courthouse to begin the process of selecting the panel that will decide whether he is guilty of misdemeanor and felony charges in what prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in taxes while simultaneously obtaining millions of dollars from foreign business entities.
But defense attorney Abbe Lowell told the judge that the evidence against Hunter Biden is “overwhelming” and that the president’s son wants to resolve the case with what’s known as an Alford plea, under which the defendant maintains his innocence but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.
A prosecutor urged U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi to reject the proposed plea, arguing that Hunter Biden “is not entitled to plead guilty on special terms that apply only to him.”
“Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty,” said prosecutor Leo Wise.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she “cannot comment” on Hunter Biden’s decision. President Biden has said that will not commute the sentence imposed on his son And when asked about it on Thursday, Jean-Pierre said “the answer is still no.”
The tax trial was expected to shed light on his overseas business dealings, which Republicans have spent years examining in an effort to accuse his father – without evidence – of corruption in connection with his son’s work abroad.
The potential political ramifications of the trial just weeks before the presidential election may have faded somewhat since President Biden’s decision in July to drop out of the 2024 race. But the president is deeply concerned about his son’s well-being, so the trial is likely to weigh heavily on him in the final months of his five-decade political career.
Hunter Biden entered the courtroom holding the hand of his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and flanked by Secret Service agents.
He initially pleaded not guilty to charges related to his taxes from 2016 to 2019 and his lawyers have indicated they will argue he did not act “intentionally” or with intent to violate the law, in part because of his well-documented struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.
Hunter Biden had agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses last year in a deal with the Justice Department that allowed him to avoid prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble.
But the deal fell apart after a judge questioned unusual aspects of the process and he was subsequently indicted in both cases.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and the newsletter. Activate notifications and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Add Comment