First son Hunter Biden He released a statement Thursday after pleading guilty to nine federal tax charges, saying he did so to “protect” his family from being “publicly humiliated” by the trial.
“I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the pain it would cause my family, and I will not put them through that again,” Biden said. “When it became clear to me that those same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one way left for me.”
“I won’t Subject to my family For more pain, more invasion of privacy and unnecessary embarrassment. For all the things I have done to them over the years, I can save them from 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. I am responsible for that. As I said, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures in this case. When I was addicted, I I wasn’t thinking about taxes, I was thinking about survival,” Biden continued.
“But a jury would never have heard or known that I have paid every penny of my back taxes, including penalties. I have been clean and sober for over five years now because I have the love and support of my family. For me to show up and “I can never repay them for helping me in my worst moments. But I can save 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: “For anyone going through the scourge of addiction right now, please know that there is a light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel. I was where you are now. Don’t give up right before a miracle.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abe Lowell, said in a separate statement that “this plea precludes a show trial that would not have provided all the facts or served any justice.”
“There is no doubt that this case was extreme and unusual for the government. Unlike millions of Americans, Hunter was charged with a felony for his failures that occurred during the depths of his drug and alcohol addiction, and which he remedied 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 was accused of tax evasion,” Lowell added.
Special counsel David Weiss charged President Biden’s son with three felonies and six misdemeanors over $1.4 million in back taxes that have since been paid. Weiss alleged a pattern whereby Hunter did not pay his federal income taxes while filing false tax returns.
In the indictment, Weiss alleges that Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million for tax years 2016 through 2019, from January 2017 to or about October 15, 2020, and when he failed in February 2020 or to avoid assessment of tax for the tax year 2018 while filing false returns around it.
Hunter remains free on bond pending a Dec. 16 sentencing date.
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Biden faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. In a press release Thursday, the Justice Department said “the actual sentences for federal crimes are generally less than the maximum penalty. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering US sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
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