Hunter Biden Makes Surprise Move In Tax Trial Case

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has offered to change his “not guilty” plea in order to avoid a trial for not paying his taxes on time.

Hunter Biden’s defense attorneys said in federal court in California on Thursday their client would be willing to make an “Alford plea,” a special type of guilty plea in which the defendant maintains their innocence but accepts punishment for the alleged crime.

It’s not yet clear if the court will accept the changed plea. District Judge Mark Scarsi recessed the proceedings to consider Biden’s move.

A grand jury indicted Hunter Biden last year on three felony and six misdemeanor charges related to his not paying more than $1 million in federal taxes on income he earned from foreign business deals from 2016 through 2019. The charges carry a maximum of 17 years in prison.

The younger Biden’s overseas moneymaking has been a major source of controversy for Joe Biden, whom Republicans accused of participating in his son’s work. Republicans struggled to substantiate the allegation, however, and gave up on an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden this year.

Hunter Biden’s apparent willingness to drop his “not guilty” plea marks a stunning turnaround for the president’s son, whose legal team fought both the tax charges and an unrelated gun charge as motivated by political pressure from Republicans.

In June, a jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three felonies related to his illegal purchase of a firearm in 2018, at a time in his life he has admitted he was addicted to drugs. His legal team tried to argue that their client was not necessarily high at the moment he bought the gun, but prosecutors played excerpts from the audiobook of his 2021 memoir, in which he described getting high on crack as often as every 15 minutes. The trial also featured testimony about his drug use from one of his daughters as well as a close examination of their text messages from the relevant time.

The offer to switch pleas on Thursday may reflect a desire on Hunter Biden’s part to avoid another similarly humiliating trial. Prosecutors in the tax case planned to use material from his memoir, and Judge Scarsi ruled against letting jurors know that a third-party benefactor has actually paid off Hunter Biden’s tax debt.