The White House has issued a response to President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s guilty plea to federal crimes.
“The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams told The Epoch Times in an email. “We will have no further comment.”
Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to intentionally failing to pay federal income tax, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a letter to the U.S. court in Delaware.
The law in question prohibits the willful failure to pay taxes or file tax returns.
Hunter Biden also struck a deal with prosecutors relating to a felony gun charge.
His attorney, Christopher Clark, said in a statement to media outlets that “Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement.”
Clark clarified that the firearms charge is not part of the plea agreement but will instead be subject to a separate pretrial diversion agreement.
Under a pretrial diversion agreement, defendants could get charges dismissed or face lighter punishment if they meet certain criteria.
A memorandum detailing the terms of the plea deal “will be submitted at or in advance of the hearing,” which is expected in the coming days, per Weiss’ letter.
The plea deal must still be approved by a federal judge.
Each of the two tax charges carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison while the gun charge carries up to 10 years behind bars.
Unconfirmed reports citing anonymous sources say that prosecutors will likely recommend probation instead of jail time on the tax charges.
‘I Trust Him’
In the weeks leading up to Hunter Biden’s plea deal, rumors swirled that the president’s son would soon face charges.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware has been investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs. The president’s son said in 2020 that he was taking the investigation “seriously” but was confident of a favorable outcome.
“I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Hunter Biden said in a statement issued by the Biden-Harris transition team in December 2020.
At the time, the transition team issued a statement describing the president-elect as “deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges” from which he has emerged “stronger.”
Hunter Biden had acknowledged in the past that he made mistakes, but insisted that he hadn’t committed any crimes.
Several weeks ago, the president was asked during an interview on MSNBC what impact there would be on the Biden presidency if Hunter Biden were to be federally charged.
“It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him,” Biden said in the interview.
He also expressed confidence that his son had “done nothing wrong.”
“I trust him. I have faith in him,” the president said.
Details of Charges
Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failing to file and pay federal income taxes on time in 2017 and 2018.
He received more than $1.5 million in taxable income in 2017 and more than $1.5 million more in 2018, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
He was legally required to pay more than $100,000 in income tax for his earnings each of those years but he “did willfully fail” to pay the tax.
Both counts are misdemeanors with a possible penalty of up to one year in prison for each.
No court dates have been scheduled as of yet, according to the court docket.
Hunter Biden also faces a separate charge for buying a handgun illegally in 2018.
An indictment states that Hunter Biden, in 2018, “knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance … did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver with serial number RA 551363, said firearm having been shipped and transported in interstate commerce.” an indictment states.
The law in question forbids people convicted of a crime punishable by a prison term of more than one year or who illegally use or are addicted to a controlled substance as defined in the Controlled Substance Act from possessing firearms.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
Several news outlets have reported that Hunter Biden possessed a gun in 2018 and he said in his autobiography that he was using crack cocaine that year.
Hunter Biden’s attorney said in a statement that his client “believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life.”
“He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward,” Clark added.
Reactions
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reacted to Hunter Biden’s plea deal on Tuesday morning, telling ABC News “it continues to show the two-tiered system in America.”
“If you are the president’s leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time,” McCarthy said.
“If you are the president’s son, you get a sweetheart deal,” he added.
Former President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that “The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere ‘traffic ticket.’ Our system is BROKEN!”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a tweet that Hunter Biden received a “sweetheart deal” and managed to avoid jail thanks to his connections to the “elite DC class.”
Several other presidential candidates reacted to the news.
The deal “only raises further questions” about the president’s son and a “double standard of justice” in the federal government, Nikki Haley said in a statement to CNN. “There is clearly a lot more the Biden family has to answer for.”
Asa Hutchinson said in a statement that, “the admission of guilt is an important step,” while Vivek Ramaswamy called the plea deal “a joke” and “farcical.”
“It’s no accident that the farcical Hunter Biden ‘plea deal’ comes right after the Trump indictment: it’s the perfect fig leaf to pretend that ‘no one is above the law,’ while absolutely putting certain people above the law,” he told CNN in a statement.
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times