In a surprise move, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to all nine federal tax charges he faced Thursday, just as jury selection was about to begin in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
After a prosecutor finished reading aloud the 56-page indictment, President Biden’s son stood before District Judge Mark Scarsi, dressed in a dark blue suit over a smart white shirt and blue tie. He answered “guilty” nine times when Scarsi asked him how he pleaded guilty to each of the federal charges.
Biden faces a maximum of 17 years in prison and potentially more than $1.2 million in fines when Scarsi sentences him at a hearing scheduled for Dec. 16. The plea ends the second of two criminal cases against Biden, who was convicted in June of three federal felonies related to the purchase of a firearm.
Both trials had been set to fuel a barrage of attacks against the Bidens from former President Trump and his allies in the run-up to the November election. But Joe Biden’s decision last month to drop out of the race changed that calculus.
Thursday's dramatic turn of events began when Biden's defense attorneys announced they intended to enter a so-called Alford plea, which would have allowed Biden to maintain his innocence and admit that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
“I know it’s an unusual procedure. [move]“Biden attorney Abbe Lowell told Scarsi. “We could have settled this case, but it’s been a long road to get here.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise urged Scarsi to reject Alford's plea, saying doing so would be “contrary to the rule of law” and “an injustice.”
“Alford pleas are rare. They are given in exceptional circumstances, and that is not the case today,” Wise said, adding later that “we will not accept an Alford plea under any circumstances.”
After a brief recess to meet with Biden and the rest of his legal team, Lowell stated that Biden would not move forward with the Alford plea and would instead plead guilty to all nine counts.
Wise asked Scarsi to allow him to read the indictment into the record, and the judge agreed.
The indictment included lurid details of Biden’s life from 2016 to 2019 (the period during which he now admits he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes), including the hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent on escorts, a pornographic website, hotels, luxury car rentals and other lavish personal expenses.
Prosecutors alleged, among other things, that Biden improperly classified personal expenses as business expenses and paid his federal income taxes late.
After Wise read the indictment, Biden pleaded guilty to the charges.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers, said it is “almost unheard of” for a defendant to plead guilty without a deal with prosecutors.
Negotiating with prosecutors typically results in reduced sentences and the dismissal of some charges, Rahmani said, adding that Biden's lawyers “are either completely incompetent or, more likely, Hunter Biden knows he will be pardoned.”
President Biden has said he will not pardon his son or commute any sentences. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the answer to the question of whether the president will pardon Hunter Biden is “not yet.”
After the hearing, Biden and his team left the courtroom and climbed into a black Chevrolet Suburban with government plates as a phalanx of media, Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security officials looked on.
Lowell made a brief statement and declined to take questions from reporters. He argued that the case against Biden was “extreme and unusual for the administration.”
“Hunter decided to come forward to protect those he loves from unnecessary harm and cruel humiliation,” Lowell said, adding later that “he will now move forward … while keeping open the option of raising the many clear issues in this case on appeal.”
Times staff writer Matthew Ormseth and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
