LOS ANGELES —
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges on Thursday, a surprise move that allows the family of U.S. President Joe Biden to avoid enduring another criminal trial for their son that would likely be painful and embarrassing.
Hunter Biden’s surprise decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefit of a plea deal came hours after jury selection was supposed to begin in the case, in which he is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
The president’s son was already facing possible prison time after he was convicted in a June trial on felony weapons charges that brought to light unflattering and salacious details about his crack cocaine addiction problems. The trial was expected to uncover more potentially lurid evidence, as well as details about Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, which Republicans have seized on to try to paint a picture of the Biden family as corrupt.
While Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 election race negated the potential political implications of the tax case, the trial was expected to carry a heavy emotional toll on the president in the final months of his five-decade political career.
“Enough is enough,” defense attorney Abbe Lowell told the judge before Hunter Biden entered his plea. “Mr. Biden is prepared, in the public and private interest, to move forward today and get this over with.”
Hunter Biden quickly responded “guilty” as the judge read aloud each of the nine charges, which carry sentences of up to 17 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines are likely to call for a much shorter sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16.
More than 100 potential jurors had been summoned to a Los Angeles courthouse on Thursday to begin the process of selecting them for the case, which alleged Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying taxes while spending lavishly on strippers, luxury hotels and exotic vehicles.
Hunter Biden’s attorney caught prosecutors off guard when he told the judge Thursday morning that his client wanted to enter what’s known as an Alford plea, under which a defendant maintains his innocence but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a guilty plea.
Prosecutors said they opposed such a plea, telling the judge that Hunter Biden “has no right to plead guilty under special conditions that apply only to him.”
“Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty,” said District Attorney Leo Wise.
Hunter Biden entered the courtroom hand-in-hand with 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. His lawyers had indicated they would argue that he did not act “willfully” or with intent to break the law, in part because of his well-documented problems with alcoholism and drug addiction.
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Lauer reported from Philadelphia. AP writer Zeke Miller contributed from Washington.
