The criminal trial of eldest son Hunter Biden, who is indicted on federal tax charges, was scheduled to get underway as normal on Thursday, but in a shocking development, the younger Biden announced his intention to plead guilty to the charges.
Special Counsel David Weiss charged President Biden's son with three felony counts and six misdemeanor counts relating to $1.4 million in back taxes that had already been paid. Weiss alleged that Hunter Biden had a pattern of not paying federal income taxes and filing false tax returns.
In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter “from approximately January 2017 to about October 15, 2020, engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes due for tax years 2016 through 2019, and in or about February 2020, filed a false tax return to evade paying tax for 2018.”
Earlier this year, Hunter's defense team indicated they would abandon a plea deal on those crimes and plead not guilty at trial, but Hunter's lawyer, Abe Lowell, said Thursday in California federal court that Hunter intended to change the charges without informing prosecutors.
Jury selection begins in California for Hunter Biden criminal tax trial
In this courtroom sketch, Hunter Biden and his lawyer, Mark Geragos, appear in court on Thursday. (Bill Robles)
The development came after Hunter's lawyers were preparing to argue he was too high or drunk to pay his taxes.
“Hunter decided to plead guilty to protect his loved ones from unnecessary pain and cruel humiliation and will prevent a show trial that does not present all the facts and will do nothing to serve justice,” Lowell said.
“We now move to the sentencing phase, but I will reserve the option of raising a number of clear issues about this case. I think there is no question that this was an extreme and unusual case for the government.”
Hunter is being held on bail until his sentencing date on December 16th.
Earlier in the day, Hunter was expected to enter a so-called Alford plea, in which a defendant acknowledges that the prosecution's evidence is likely sufficient to convict him and accepts the verdict but maintains his innocence.
It was also initially unclear whether Judge Mark Scarce would accept Hunter's plea, but the judge commented that “the court does not need the government's consent to accept an Alford plea.”
After hours of deliberation, Hunter pleaded guilty to all nine charges.
Hunter Biden tax trial postponed to September
In this courtroom sketch, Judge Mark Scarci presides over his eldest son's dramatic day in California federal court on Thursday. (Bill Robles)
As the trial drew to a close, Department of Justice prosecutor Leo Wise read out the entire 56-page indictment against the president's son, which included spending on Hunter's business lines of credit for hotels, Airbnb, sex club memberships, pornography sites, designer clothes, travel, money for his adult children and exotic dancers.
Kerri Kupec Urbain, legal editor at Fox News and a former senior adviser to former Attorney General William Barr, called the day full of “high drama” because Hunter had created a “most unsympathetic situation” for himself “in the eyes of the public and in the courtroom.”
“I always thought it was odd that he didn't plead guilty from the start. You either pay your taxes or you don't,” Urbahn said. “That's it, really.”
“People hate paying taxes. They hate people who get away with not paying taxes even more. And guess what they hate even more? Someone who gets a get out of jail free card from their father, the president of the United States. Nobody else in America has that card,” she said.
“This is like the most outrageous situation one can create, both in the court of public opinion and in the court of law.”
Hunter Biden pleads guilty to all nine federal tax charges brought by Special Counsel David Weiss
A courtroom sketch shows Hunter Biden appearing in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday. (Bill Robles)
President Biden has vowed not to pardon his son, and the White House indicated Thursday that the president's mind has not changed.
“The answer is no, still no,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday when asked by reporters whether the petition had influenced President Biden's decision on whether to consider pardoning his son. “I can't comment on that, but I can say that the answer to the question of whether the president intends to issue a pardon is still 'no.'” [Hunter]”
But criminal lawyer and law professor Jonathan Turley said the December sentencing date “falls within the most likely window for an executive order” if Biden changes his mind.
“The sentencing date marks opportunistic timing for the White House, as President Biden still has several weeks to consider a commutation or pardon. If he plans to renege on his campaign promise, it would likely happen after the election, just before he leaves office. Moreover, a lengthy sentence could put even more pressure on the president to use executive power to protect his son,” Turley told Fox News Digital.
“The drama in California was consistent throughout Mr. Biden's defense,” he added. “What's striking about every stage of this defense is that it failed to produce any positive outcomes for Hunter Biden. Despite the drama and media attention, each of these moments led to major losses for Hunter Biden.”
“He now faces sentencing in two states. He has managed to put himself in the worst possible position in terms of sentencing in both Delaware and California,” Turley said, adding that “it's hard to discern a common legal strategy in these cases.”
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Hunter was convicted earlier this year in a separate case involving the illegal purchase of a firearm.
Those charges included making a false statement when purchasing a firearm, making a false statement regarding information required to be kept by federally licensed gun dealers, and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Fox News' Lee Roth and Fox News Digital's Alec Schemel contributed to this report.
