Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss has charged the president’s son with two tax offenses and a felony related to the purchase of firearms. It will likely be lifted if Hunter Biden meets certain conditions. Two sources familiar with the deal told NBC News it included a provision whereby the U.S. attorney agreed to recommend Biden’s probation for his tax offenses. Lawyers also said a guilty plea would likely keep him out of jail, although the three counts combined would have put him at risk of 12 years in prison: 12 months in prison for each of the tax and a maximum sentence of 10 years. in jail for buying guns.
Any proposed plea deal must be approved by a federal judge. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have demanded a court hearing where Hunter Biden, 53, could make his statement, according to the Washington Post. The gun purchase that led to the criminal charge took place in late 2018, at a time when, according to his own account in his autobiography, Hunter Biden was regularly abusing cocaine. He was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. However, when he filled out the paperwork to buy the gun, he denied using drugs or having a drug problem, which left him open to potential perjury charges on paper, as well as illegal possession of the weapon after acquiring it. Biden possessed the gun for less than two weeks, after which his then-girlfriend threw the gun away. Fox News first reported in 2021 that police responded to a 2018 incident in which a gun belonging to Hunter Biden was thrown into a trash can near a Delaware market.
Court documents show Biden Jr. tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two tax evasion-related offenses in 2017 and 2018. The combined tax liability over the years is approximately $1.2 million, according to sources. people familiar with the plea deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to these people, the prosecution is considering recommending a suspended sentence for these counts. Representatives for Hunter Biden said he previously repaid the debt to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The decision by Weiss, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2018, marks the end of an extensive five-year investigation by federal prosecutors, FBI agents and IRS officials into Hunter Biden. The Biden administration left Weiss in place to avoid oversight of his son’s criminal case by a U.S. attorney appointed by the current president, and therefore a potential conflict of interest. A White House spokesperson said, “The President and First Lady love and support their son as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.”
The investigation has drawn increased interest and criticism from Republican politicians since 2020, who have accused the Biden administration of not wanting to pursue the case. The terms of the proposed deal are likely to face similar criticism from opponents of the White House chief. Former President Donald Trump, who faces criminal charges for alleged mishandling of classified documents, criticized the deal in an article on his Truth Social. “Biden’s corrupt DOJ just decriminalized hundreds of years by issuing Hunter Biden a simple ‘travel ticket’. Our system is broken,” Trump tweeted.
The agreement, sources said, noted that prosecutors have not found grounds to file charges related to Hunter Biden’s dealings with foreign organizations or other offenses. Trump and several Republican-led congressional committees have long maintained that Biden engaged in criminal activity for years with individuals associated with businesses in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Issues with Hunter Biden’s overseas business operations entered the political arena in 2019. Donald Trump suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launch an investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings. In particular, why then-Vice President Joe Biden insisted that Zelenskyy’s predecessor as President of Ukraine, Poroshenko, fire Attorney General Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the company’s case. Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, on whose board Hunter Biden held a highly paid position. position. An FBI whistleblower told Republican Congressmen James Comer and Chuck Grassley that the bureau and Justice Department had a document outlining a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national to pay a bribe in exchange for favorable political decisions. A US Congressional Oversight Committee investigation into the matter is ongoing.
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