Hunter Biden to plead guilty in tax case – but avoid time behind bars

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has agreed to plead guilty to deliberately failing to pay income taxes under a deal that means he will avoid charges of gun possession, sparing him a probable prison sentence.

The 52-year-old will plead guilty to the tax offences as part of an agreement with prosecutors made public on Tuesday.

It ends a long-running investigation into Biden’s second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother, Beau.

It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for the Biden White House, and avoids prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user.

Nonetheless, Donald Trump and other Republicans are likely to continue to try to use the case to shine an unflattering spotlight on President Biden and his family business dealings and to raise questions about the independence of the Justice Department.

Mr Trump, in a post on his social media platform, likened the Hunter Biden deal to a “mere traffic ticket”, adding, “Our system is BROKEN!”

President Biden has two surviving children – Hunter and daughter Ashley Biden. Beau Biden died in 2015 of cancer while Naomi Biden died as an infant after a car accident that also killed Joe Biden’s first wife Neilia.

Hunter Biden described in a 2021 memoir dealing with substance abuse issues in his life, including crack cocaine use and alcoholism. He was discharged from the US Navy Reserve in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine, sources said at the time.

President Biden has long expressed support and pride in his son for overcoming his addiction. The White House 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”.

Two sources familiar with the investigation said the Justice Department would recommend probation for the tax charges, meaning Hunter Biden will not face time behind bars. But the decision to go along with any deal is up to the judge.

He is to plead guilty to failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on over $1.5m of income in both 2017 and 2018.

The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra .38 Special, for 11 days in October 2018 despite knowing he was a drug user. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department said Hunter Biden had reached a pretrial agreement. This likely means as long as he adheres to the terms of the agreement, the case will be wiped from his record.

Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said in a statement: “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. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”

The agreement comes as the Justice Department pursues perhaps the most consequential case in its history against the first former president to face federal criminal charges. The resolution of Hunter Biden’s case comes just days after a 37-count indictment against Mr Trump in relation to accusations of mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, a case with even more significant political implications.

That indictment has brought an onslaught of Republican criticism of the “politicisation” of the Justice Department and a renewed crescendo of questions about Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans continue to pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including examining foreign payments.

Republicans called the deal an example of “a two-tiered justice system”.

California governor Gavin Newsom reaffirmed his support for Joe Biden’s re-election, saying once again he would not launch a primary challenge for the 2024 race. “Hunter changes nothing,” Mr Newsom said.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report