President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden arrived on Wednesday at Delaware federal court where he is expected to plead guilty to two tax crimes and admit possessing a gun as a drug user in a deal with the Justice Department that’s likely to spare him time behind bars.
The younger Biden did not pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000, prosecutors allege.
He is also charged with unlawfully owning a firearm in a separate case while addicted to and using a controlled substance, a felony. Under an agreement with federal prosecutors in Delaware, the younger Biden has entered into a pretrial diversion agreement for that charge, an alternative to prosecution that allows defendants to avoid a conviction or prison time.
Republicans for years have accused Hunter Biden of leveraging his father’s political power for personal gain in his dealings in Ukraine and China, though the probe by U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, a Trump appointee, has not turned up any evidence to support those claims.
News of the plea deal in June sparked accusations of favourable treatment for the president’s son from Trump and his Republican allies, who have for years accused the younger Biden of influence-peddling abroad, among other things. Those allegations spurred the criminal investigation by Weiss, who in a departure from typical practice was allowed to remain in office to continue the probe after Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has denied allegations of special treatment and said Weiss was given full autonomy to investigate Hunter Biden. Weiss has also said he faced no interference.
Trump, who was indicted in New York for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star and faces federal criminal charges in Florida for his handling of classified documents upon leaving office in 2021, has criticized Hunter Biden’s deal with prosecutors as a mere “traffic ticket.”
The tax charges could carry a sentence of up to 18 months, but according to legal experts Hunter Biden is unlikely to face prison time because he has no prior criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his actions.
