In a bid to avoid going on trial, where his drug addiction and foreign business dealings might be probed, US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, offered to plead guilty to charges of tax evasion, his lawyers told the court.
In opening Hunter Biden's trial before a Los Angeles federal court Thursday, Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, made clear his client was changing his plea from not guilty to guilty.
Hunter Biden is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes on substantial income earned from foreign business dealings.
But it came with conditions: he would not admit his guilt in the case but agree to a conviction only insofar as he believed evidence against him might lead to a finding of guilt at trial.
Special prosecutor Leo Wise countered the special terms, contending in court, "Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty."
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Scarsi did not immediately rule, saying the prosecutor's agreement was not necessary for the court to accept the plea.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in June to illegal gun purchase charges for lying on forms about not being a drug addict when he was, in fact, addicted. He awaits sentencing in that case.
This case relates to the tax trial because prosecutors had earlier agreed to dismiss the gun charges if Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax offense. But that deal unraveled after the presiding judge in the gun case declined to take the plea.
The prosecutors could also bring forth Hunter Biden's drug addiction and his high rollers' lifestyle to argue that he, in fact, had the means to pay the taxes but instead chose to spend the money elsewhere.
Though a friend has settled the arrears of tax, that does not clear him from these tax evasion charges.
Already, the source of embarrassment for President Biden, Hunter Biden's legal troubles translate into less pressure on the President now that he has pulled out of his re-election bid.
Republicans have sought to tie President Joe Biden to his son's foreign business dealings.
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