US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter is to plead guilty to federal tax offenses, but avoid full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the US Department of Justice that is likely to spare him time behind bars.
Hunter Biden, 53, would plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public on Tuesday.
The agreement would also avert prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions agreed to in court.
Photo: AP
The deal ends a justice department investigation into the taxes and foreign business dealings of Joe Biden’s second son.
The president, asked about the development at a meeting on another subject in California, said simply: “I’m very proud of my son.”
The White House counsel’s office said in a statement that the president and first lady Jill Biden “love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life.”
While the agreement requires Hunter Biden to admit guilt, the deal is narrowly focused on tax and weapons violations rather than anything broader or tied to the president.
Former US president Donald Trump and other Republicans raised questions about the independence of the department.
Trump, who is challenging Joe Biden in next year’s presidential race, wrote on Truth Social that the agreement was a “mere traffic ticket,” adding: “Our system is BROKEN!”
US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy compared the outcome to the Trump documents case heading toward federal court and said: “If you are the president’s son, you get a sweetheart deal.”
Two people familiar with the investigation said that the department would recommend 24 months of probation for the tax charges, meaning Hunter Biden would not face time in prison.
However, the decision to go along with any deal is up to the judge.
The people were not authorized to speak publicly by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Hunter Biden is to plead guilty to failing to pay more than US$100,000 in taxes on more than US$1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, charges that carry a maximum possible penalty of a year in prison.
The back taxes have since been paid, a person familiar with the investigation said.
The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra .38 Special, for 11 days in October 2018, despite knowing that he was a drug user.
The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the justice department said that Hunter Biden had reached a pretrial agreement.
This likely means that as long as he adheres to the conditions, the case would be wiped from his record.
Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved.
“I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life,” Clark said. “He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans continue to pursue their own investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including foreign payments.
US Representative James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said that the younger Biden is “getting away with a slap on the wrist,” despite investigations in Congress that lawmakers say show a pattern of corruption involving the Biden family’s financial ties.
In December 2020, Hunter Biden said that he had received a subpoena as part of the department’s scrutiny of his taxes.
The subpoena sought information on his business dealings with a entities including Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company on whose board he sat.
He joined the board of Burisma in 2014, at about the time his father, who was US vice president at the time, was helping conduct the foreign policy of then-US president Barack Obama with Ukraine.
Republicans say that Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine influenced the Obama administration’s policies.
Democrats said that Joe Biden has serious political challenges ahead even without his son’s legal problems.
“I don’t think that this will be a significant issue for voters either now or come November 2024,” Democratic strategist Lis Smith said. “This is Hunter Biden, not his father, but taking a step back, there’s no doubt that no matter who the Republican nominee is, this is going to be a dog fight.”
“President Biden has his work cut out for him,” Smith said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television. Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis. "I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free
A string of rape and assault allegations against the son of Norway’s future queen have plunged the royal family into its “biggest scandal” ever, wrapping up an annus horribilis for the monarchy. The legal troubles surrounding Marius Borg Hoiby, the 27-year-old son born of a relationship before Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s marriage to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, have dominated the Scandinavian country’s headlines since August. The tall strapping blond with a “bad boy” look — often photographed in tuxedos, slicked back hair, earrings and tattoos — was arrested in Oslo on Aug. 4 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the previous night. A photograph
The US deployed a reconnaissance aircraft while Japan and the Philippines sent navy ships in a joint patrol in the disputed South China Sea yesterday, two days after the allied forces condemned actions by China Coast Guard vessels against Philippine patrol ships. The US Indo-Pacific Command said the joint patrol was conducted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone by allies and partners to “uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight “ and “other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace.” Those phrases are used by the US, Japan and the Philippines to oppose China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
RSS