Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, pleaded not guilty on July 26 to federal tax and gun charges after the presiding judge objected to an earlier plea agreement that had linked the two alleged crimes.
At the July 26 hearing, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed “concerns” that Mr. Biden’s plea agreement linked tax crimes to resolving felony gun charges.
Judge Noreika, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said she couldn’t accept the deal in its current form.
Following in-court discussions between prosecutors and the defense team about the structure of the agreement, Mr. Biden entered a plea of not guilty.
On June 20, prosecutors said that Mr. Biden had agreed to plead guilty to intentionally failing to pay federal income taxes and to a felony gun charge.
The president’s son received more than $1.5 million in taxable income in 2017 and more than $1.5 million more in 2018, according to an indictment. He was required by law to pay more than $100,000 in income tax for his earnings each of those years. But he “did willfully fail” to pay the tax.
The counts are misdemeanors. Each carries up to one year in prison.
Mr. Biden said in late 2020 that authorities were investigating his “tax affairs.” He said, “[I am] confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately.”
A subpoena, made public in 2022, showed that the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, David Weiss, was compelling JPMorgan Chase Bank to release Hunter Biden’s bank records. IRS agents later came forward to claim that the investigation wasn’t being handled properly.
Mr. Biden is charged in a separate case with unlawfully owning a firearm while addicted to and using a controlled substance, which is a felony.
Separately, Mr. Biden, in 2018, “knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance … did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver with serial number RA 551363, said firearm having been shipped and transported in interstate commerce,” an indictment states.
The law in question forbids people convicted of a crime punishable by a prison term of more than one year or who illegally use or are addicted to a controlled substance as defined in the Controlled Substance Act from possessing firearms.
Several outlets have reported that Mr. Biden possessed a gun in 2018 and that his then-girlfriend, Hallie Biden—the widow of Hunter’s brother, Beau—threw the gun into a garbage can before it was recovered by authorities. He has said in his autobiography that he was using crack cocaine that year.
Mr. Biden has agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement on that charge, according to Mr. Weiss.
Pretrial diversion programs enable defendants to get charges dismissed if they meet certain criteria. The objectives of the programs include preventing future criminal activity and promoting rehabilitation, according to the Department of Justice.
The charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Christopher Clark, a lawyer representing Mr. Biden, declined to comment.
“The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, told news outlets in a statement after news broke of the original plea deal. “We will have no further comment.”
President Joe Biden has claimed in the past that his son “did nothing wrong.”
“I trust him. I have faith in him,” the president said on MSNBC in a recent interview.
Hunter is entitled to a fair trial on all counts based upon the facts presented by an impartial prosecutor without reservation based upon the US Code of criminal procedure.
I bet Daddy Biden will Pardon his son, so he won’t have to go to Prison. The Bidens, Obama’s and Clintons all need to be tried for Treson against the United States…
Isn’t it interesting that everything that hunter has done, joe wants to come after the rest of us as if we are scummy people doing the same thing his spawn has done? They want to get into our bank accounts if we have $600 in our accounts. They want to know where our money comes from and what it is spent on. Yet they received millions of dollars by illegal means and they act as if that is okay. Hunter didn’t pay taxes, and they are ok with that too. Yet biden paid for how many hired guns to come after American citizens if they were late on their taxes? He has wanted to take all the guns away from Americans, yet again, he thinks it’s okay for his kid to have guns. His son is a drug addict and biden enables him. He has spoiled him by catering to him, and I am betting he feels guilty for how he turned out but doesn’t know what to do to fix him. So instead he tries to fix America by doing to us what should have been done to his kid. He needs to have another profession besides president. License plate maker in prison should be a good gig for biden and his son.
He previously plead guilty on the tax charges because he was getting a sweetheart deal. Now that he has plead not guilty to the same crime, the prosecutor should ask him to explain which time he was lying to the court.
Think about this. The FARA (foreign agent charge) is due to the $17 million Hunter took and split with the BigGuy And, the Big Guy pardons him?????? And, the Big Guy is seeking reelection???
That’s the reality