Hunter Biden's lawyer, Mark Geragos, said Friday that the president's son pleaded guilty in a federal tax case because he didn't want his family to go through a “parade” at trial.
“The reason he entered a not guilty plea was because his defense had been thoroughly refuted and he didn't want to subject his family to any more abuse for no reason,” Galagos told NewsNation's Blake Berman on “The Hill.” “It was salacious for no reason.”
Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. He had previously offered an “Alford plea” — formally admitting guilt but maintaining his innocence and abiding by the judge's ruling — but prosecutors resisted, resulting in a traditional guilty plea.
“Why did we, the taxpayers, spend over $4 million on an incident that did no harm, that did no wrong? That's a question on which I can offer an opinion,” Geragos said.
“Like millions of Americans, I failed to file and pay my taxes on time,” Biden said in a statement.
“As I have said, addiction is not an excuse, but it does explain some of my failings that are at issue in this case. When I was addicted, I wasn't thinking about taxes, I was just thinking about surviving.”
The court contacted the Department of Justice and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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