First son Hunter Biden released a statement Thursday after he pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, saying he did so to “spare” his family from being “publicly humiliated” by a trial.
“I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again,” Biden said. “When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one path left for me.”
I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty,” he added.
“Like millions of Americans, I failed to file and pay my taxes on time. For that I am responsible. As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case. When I was addicted, I wasn’t thinking about my taxes, I was thinking about surviving,” Biden continued.
HUNTER BIDEN’S ‘HIGH DRAMA’ DAY IN COURT ENDS IN SHOCKING GUILTY PLEA
Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (Getty Images)
“But the jury would never have heard that or know that I had paid every penny of my back taxes including penalties.I have been clean and sober for more than five years now because I have had the love and support of my family. I can never repay them for showing up for me and helping me through my worst moments. But I can protect them from being publicly humiliated for my failures,” he said.
Biden, who chronicled his battle with addiction in his memoir, Beautiful Things, concluded his statement saying: “For anyone now going through the scourge of addiction, please know there is a light at the end of that seemingly endless tunnel. I was where you are now. Don’t quit right before the miracle.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a separate statement that “this plea prevents a show trial that would not have provided all the facts or served any justice.”
There is no doubt this case was an extreme and unusual one for the government to bring. Unlike millions of Americans, Hunter was charged with felonies for his failures that occurred during the depths of his addiction to drugs and alcohol, and which he has since rectified by paying his overdue taxes in full with interest and penalties years before he was charged. In fact, he actually overpaid his taxes in the year he is charged with tax evasion,” Lowell added.
HUNTER BIDEN’S CRIMINAL TAX TRIAL BEGINS WITH JURY SELECTION IN CALIFORNIA
US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden hug on stage at the conclusion of the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19, 2024. ( (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images))
Special Counsel David Weiss charged President Biden’s son with three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid. Weiss alleged a pattern by which Hunter did not pay his federal income taxes while also filing false tax returns.
HUNTER BIDEN TAX TRIAL POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER
A court sketch depicts Hunter Biden as he appears in federal court in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 5, 2024. Biden changed his plea to guilty before jury selection for his federal tax trial. (Bill Robles)
In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.”
Hunter remains free on bond until the sentencing date on Dec. 16.
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Biden faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison. In a press release Thursday, the Justice Department said that “actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”
