Hunter Biden’s legal team has proposed to change his plea to avoid trial in his federal tax case in California, according to multiple reports.
The pivot was announced just before the jury selection process started for the case, and the court went into recess shortly after Hunter Biden’s intention to change his plea was made clear, according to NBC News. Hunter Biden will reportedly seek to maintain his innocence despite switching his plea; the terms of the proposed deal are presently unknown, and it is also unclear whether the judge presiding over the case will accept it.
The president’s son faces three felony and six misdemeanor counts related to his alleged failure to pay the government at least $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2020, a period of time in which Hunter Biden was battling drug addiction. The California tax case was poised to be Hunter Biden’s second trial this year; he was convicted of three felony counts related to his illegal purchase of a firearm in federal court in Delaware in June.
Trump-appointed District Judge Mark Scarsi will have to sign off on the plea, known technically as an “Alford plea,” in order for it to take effect, according to CNN. The plea would effectively mean that Hunter Biden is conceding that the government has enough evidence to win a conviction and that he would accept the sentence that Scarsi eventually gives.
“I think this can be resolved today,” Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said of the plea, according to CNN.
The prosecution has stated that they will raise objections to the Alford plea, according to CNN. Hunter Biden’s father, President Joe Biden, has previously stated that he will not use his authority to pardon his son, though it is unclear whether the president’s position has changed since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys and federal prosecutors attempted to present a plea deal in the Delaware firearms case that could have protected him from future prosecutions, but the judge presiding over that case blew up the deal in July 2023.
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