CNN
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Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, will plead guilty to two misdemeanor fiscal charges and reached a deal with federal prosecutors on a gun charge, the Justice Department said Tuesday in court documents.
The plea deal will have immediate repercussions in the 2024 presidential election.
The charges were detailed in a criminal filing in U.S. District Court in Delaware, where U.S. Attorney David Weiss, appointed by Donald Trump, has been conducting the investigation that at one point explored allegations of money laundering of capital, foreign lobbying and other potential charges.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Christopher Clark, said in a statement that the settlement with federal prosecutors will “resolve” the Justice Department’s long-running criminal investigation into the president’s son.
“Hunter will plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement,” Clark said. “The Government will also file a firearm complaint, which will be subject to a pre-trial diversion agreement and will not be subject to the plea agreement. I know Hunter feels it’s important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He hopes to continue his recovery and move forward.”
In a brief statement, the White House said the Bidens “love their son.”
“The president and first lady love their son and are supporting him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said.
Trump criticized Hunter Biden’s plea deal Social Truth.
‘Wow! Biden’s corrupt DOJ just cleared hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a simple “traffic ticket.” Our system is DOWN!’
Negotiations to reach a plea deal have intensified in recent weeks. Hunter Biden’s legal team sought a meeting with the Department of Justice in April, which Weiss attended, where Hunter Biden’s lawyers made a presentation detailing why they believe Hunter Biden should not be accused Part of his argument included that Hunter Biden paid the taxes owed, including penalties.
A spokesman for Weiss declined to comment.
Prosecutors had been looking into a 2018 incident in which a firearm owned by Hunter Biden ended up being thrown by his girlfriend into a dumpster in Wilmington, a person briefed on the matter said. Hunter Biden described in media interviews in 2021 that he was addicted to drugs, raising the possibility that he violated federal law when he purchased the firearm.
Federal law prohibits the purchase of firearms by anyone who uses or is addicted to illegal drugs, and CNN previously reported that federal prosecutors were weighing possible charges related to making a false statement related to the purchase of weapons
Hunter Biden previously told associates that he had paid outstanding tax bills and, according to public records, more than $450,000 in state liens in Washington, D.C., were lifted in 2020, an indication that those liabilities were likely settled.
Investigators, however, continued to look into the source of the funds Hunter Biden used to pay his taxes. Emails to Hunter Biden that were authenticated by a forensic expert for CNN show that in 2018 and 2019, Biden’s debts piled up, despite repeated warnings from his bank, his accountant and others.
He was repeatedly warned about his tax obligations, according to the emails, but his lawyer told CNN in July 2022 that those years were difficult times for Hunter Biden, given his addiction problems. Clark has said his client has now “paid in full” his IRS tax debts.
Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House has been scrutinizing Hunter Biden’s financial dealings and exploring the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation, as well as any involvement of other Biden family members in overseas deals.
Lawyers for an IRS whistleblower who claims investigative interference are meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional investigators to lay the groundwork for what their client hopes to share with Congress, according to sources familiar with the investigation. matter
The IRS whistleblower claimed to have information that “contradicts sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee,” according to a letter from the whistleblower’s attorney. That senior political appointee was Garland, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
A whistleblower who worked for the FBI has also complained to Republican lawmakers that the Justice Department would not allow agents to take more aggressive investigative steps in the Hunter Biden probe.
House Republicans threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress until he agreed to let them review a document summarizing a whistleblower’s claims that Joe Biden traded stocks policies in exchange for millions of dollars in payments to his family. . The informant’s claims were not corroborated by investigators.
Hunter Biden’s legal troubles come against the backdrop of personal issues he’s faced, many of which he addressed in his 2021 memoir. Biden has been open about struggles with alcohol addiction and drugs His 24-year marriage ended in divorce in 2017 and his ex-wife has accused him of spending extravagantly on liquor and strip clubs. In 2017, he also admitted to a relationship with his late brother Beau’s widow. Hunter Biden remarried in 2019 and shares a son with his wife, Melissa Cohen.
As Trump tried to make Hunter Biden a focus of the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden said he was proud of the progress his son had made in dealing with addiction. He issued a similar defense in an interview with CNN last year, telling Jake Tapper that he was “proud” of his son for being open about his battle with drug addiction.
“This is a kid who got hooked, not a kid, he’s a grown man, who got hooked on drugs, like many families have. He’s gotten over it. He’s established a new life,” Joe Biden said.
After being elected, Joe Biden promised to stay out of the Justice Department’s fiscal decision-making.
“I will not tell them what to do and what not to do. I’m not going to say, go prosecute A, B or C,” then-President-elect Joe Biden told Tapper in December 2020.
“That’s not the role, it’s not my Justice Department. It’s the people’s Justice Department.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland told a Senate panel in 2022 that “there will be no interference” in the DOJ’s investigation into Hunter Biden, saying the president is “committed not to interfere, not only in this investigation but in any other type of research.”
Among the matters under scrutiny in the Justice Department investigation were Hunter Biden’s efforts, after his father left the vice presidency in 2017, to strike a deal with CEFC China Energy to invest in US energy projects, according to documents released by Republicans on two Senate committees. .
The deal ultimately fell through, according to an account Hunter Biden gave in a 2019 New Yorker profile, and the company executive was later detained by Chinese authorities amid corruption allegations.
Additionally, Hunter Biden was briefly the attorney for the head of a CEFC-backed organization who was later convicted on CEFC-related bribery allegations.
During the Obama administration, Hunter Biden’s other business ventures in China raised concerns among White House officials, according to The New Yorker, which reported that Hunter Biden held a stake in an investment fund that it involved American and Chinese partners.
Federal investigators also previously looked into Hunter Biden’s Ukraine-related lobbying work. Of specific interest was the work lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies did with Burisma, an energy company on whose board Hunter Biden served from 2014 to 2019, earning up to $50,000 a month.
Joe Biden has said his son’s Ukraine-related dealings had no bearing on his approach to the country as vice president, when he spearheaded Ukraine’s anti-corruption initiatives for the United States. And State Department officials who were critical of Hunter Biden’s Ukraine activities nevertheless told lawmakers that he did not improperly influence policymaking, according to transcripts of Senate testimony.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to two tax charges and reached a deal to resolve the gun charge.
This story has been updated with additional news.
