Topline
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to a set of federal charges, marking a reverse course from an expected plea deal that unraveled when a judge questioned the merits of the agreement in a hearing Wednesday.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, arrives to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on … [+]
Key Facts
The president’s son pleaded not guilty in a Delaware federal court Wednesday to two misdemeanor tax charges.
Biden was expected to plead guilty to charges of failing to file taxes in 2017 and 2018 and agree to enter a diversion program for a separate charge of purchasing a gun while using drugs in 2018.
But the plea agreement unraveled in court Wednesday when prosecutors indicated the investigation was ongoing and Biden could face additional charges, including a potential violation of the foreign agents registration act, CNN reported.
Judge Maryellen Noreika reportedly expressed concerns about tying the plea deal regarding the tax violations to the gun charge, prompting the judge to call a brief recess to give the two sides an opportunity to negotiate.
Key Background
Hunter Biden and Delaware U.S. attorney David Weiss’s office announced last month that he had agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges for failing to file taxes in 2017 and 2018 and enter a pretrial diversion program for purchasing a gun in 2018 despite being a drug user at the time. The agreement marked an inflection point in the Justice Department’s five-year probe into the president’s son that began as an investigation into his foreign business dealings and expanded into encompass his tax records and the gun purchase. Some Republican lawmakers who have launched their own investigations into Hunter Biden and whether his business practices intersected with his father’s government duties criticized the plea deal as too lenient and have echoed former President Donald Trump in claiming that the Justice Department has treated Hunter Biden and the president more leniently than Trump. Weiss, however, was appointed by Trump in 2018.
Further Reading
Hunter Biden Will Plead Guilty On Tax Charges—Avoid Gun Charge (Forbes)
Did Feds Undercharge Hunter Biden? GOP Builds Case Using IRS Whistleblower—Latest Unverified Claims Against Biden Family (Forbes)
Hunter Biden’s Lawyer Files Ethics Complaint Against Marjorie Taylor Greene For Showing Sexually Explicit Photos (Forbes)