LISTEN HERE:
Hunter Biden, the son of the President, has reached an agreement to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of willful failure to pay federal income tax. He also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate firearm-related charge. This information was confirmed by Fox News.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware revealed that in 2017 and 2018, Hunter Biden’s taxable income exceeded $1,500,000 annually, yet he failed to pay over $100,000 in federal income tax for those years. If convicted, Hunter Biden could receive a maximum penalty of two years in prison for the tax charges, and up to 10 years for the firearm charge.
Pretrial diversion programs offer certain offenders alternative paths, such as mental health or substance abuse treatment, and can lead to the dismissal or reduction of charges.
Following successful completion of a diversion program, the defendant may receive a more favorable sentencing recommendation.
A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors. The investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax affairs is ongoing, as stated by Weiss’ office in a statement on Tuesday.
Chris Clark, Hunter’s criminal counsel at Clark Smith Villazor, confirmed the two agreements between Hunter Biden and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware. It is his understanding that this brings to an end the five-year investigation into Hunter.
Chris Clark revealed that ‘Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement.’
The firearm charge will also be filed by the Government. Hunter, who has been under federal investigation since 2018, publicly acknowledged the investigation in December 2020, weeks after the 2020 presidential election.
Hunter Biden has been under investigation for potential criminal activity relating to his foreign business dealings since 2019. The investigation was initiated following the discovery of suspicious activity reports involving funds from ‘China and other foreign nations.’
Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings became part of the political conversation in 2019. President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings. In particular, he questioned why then-Vice President Joe Biden pushed to fire a top prosecutor investigating Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where Hunter Biden was a board member. Trump’s request led to his first impeachment.
Republicans in the Senate, such as Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, initiated investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings in 2019.
The two senators released a report in September 2020 that claimed they found records showing potential criminal activity involving Hunter Biden, his family, and associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh, and Chinese nationals.
The report also claimed that investigators had discovered millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions between Hunter Biden, his partners, and foreign counterparts.
According to Fox News, Hunter Biden agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a firearm charge. The investigation revealed that from mid-October 2018, he unlawfully possessed a firearm despite knowing he was an addict to a controlled substance.
Although this is a serious charge, it is unrelated to the tax affairs case. Pretrial diversion agreement programs such as the one that Hunter Biden is participating in offers offenders a chance to seek alternative paths and can potentially have charges dismissed or reduced for successful completion of the diversion program.
Hunter Biden’s sentence will ultimately be decided by a federal district court judge, who will take into consideration the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
Chris Clark, Hunter’s criminal counsel, announced that his client will take responsibility for not filing tax payments on time on two separate occasions. The charges relate to instances in which Hunter Biden incurred $100,000 in federal income tax debt in calendar years 2017 and 2018.
Hunter Biden faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison on each of the misdemeanor tax charges. Furthermore, if he is found guilty of the firearm charge, he could receive a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. This was confirmed by David C. Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.
Weiss’ office concluded that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax affairs is ongoing, as stated in a statement made on Tuesday. This suggests that Hunter Biden may still face further charges.
Hunter Biden’s criminal counsel, Chris Clark, provided a statement in which he confirmed that the five-year investigation into Hunter has been resolved, though the investigation into his foreign dealings is still ongoing. Hunter Biden may face additional legal issues if anything else comes to light.
Fox News first reported in 2020 that the FBI had subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in connection with a money-laundering investigation in late 2019. This was the first sign of legal trouble for Hunter Biden.
Two years before the 2020 presidential election, Hunter Biden was already under federal investigation. Additionally, Grassley and Johnson released a report in late 2020, which suggested that Hunter Biden may have been involved in criminal activities relating to foreign business dealings.
In September 2020, Grassley and Johnson issued a report that revealed potentially criminal activity relating to Hunter Biden’s financial transactions with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh, and Chinese nationals.
These foreign dealings had been the subject of much political debate for years before the report was released. It was not until three months before the 2020 presidential election that Hunter Biden publicly acknowledged the investigation.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams released a statement in which he claimed that Joe Biden and his wife continue to support Hunter Biden, their son. He went on to say ‘We will have no further comment’ regarding the matter.
Hunter Biden’s firearm charge has been filed. It is unrelated to the tax evasion charges that he has pleaded guilty to. It will now be decided by a federal district court judge after considering the sentencing guidelines and further statutory factors.
Federal investigators discovered that Hunter Biden had significant taxable income in 2017 and 2018. He was required by law to pay over $100,000 in federal income taxes for those years but failed to do so.
This, coupled with other shady business dealings, led to an investigation that only recently concluded with Hunter Biden pleading guilty. The firearm charge stems from a 2018 incident in which Hunter Biden allegedly misled authorities when purchasing a firearm. He lied on his firearm transaction report when he stated he was not addicted to a controlled substance.
Hunter Biden’s criminal counsel, Chris Clark, said in a statement that Hunter will take responsibility for his actions regarding his tax evasion case.
The firearm-related charge that Hunter is facing carries with it a potential penalty of 10 years in prison. It remains to be seen exactly what will happen as Hunter moves forward. He may face additional charges in the future. In total, Hunter Biden faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison if he is found guilty on both of the misdemeanor tax charges.
Republicans in the Senate began investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings in 2019. Following their investigation, they released a report that indicated potential criminal activities — including millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions — involving Hunter Biden and his associates from other countries including Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and China.
Following this report and the subsequent investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware started looking into Hunter Biden’s tax affairs.
This was the first sign of legal trouble for Hunter Biden, but not the last. Fox News later reported that in 2020 the FBI had seized a laptop and related documents as part of an investigation into Hunter’s financial dealings.
According to Fox News, the firearms charge that Hunter Biden agreed to a pretrial diversion program for stems from an incident in which a gun he owned was thrown into a trash can outside a market. A source with knowledge of the incident alleged that Joe Biden’s late son’s wife, Hallie Biden, threw the gun into a dumpster.
Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion and one charge of possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance, although he will participate in a pretrial diversion program for the firearm charge.
The investigation into his tax affairs is still ongoing and, as such, we may see further charges against him in the future. The firearm-related charge is unrelated to the tax evasion charges. If he is found guilty of all of the charges he is currently facing, he faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison on each of the misdemeanor tax evasion charges and ten years for the firearm charge.
It is certainly a tough time for Joe Biden’s son, but it is important that he be held accountable for his actions if he is found to have committed such crimes.
