Hunter Biden’s lawyer said on Thursday that he would enter a plea to avoid a trial, just as jury selection was set to begin in his federal tax case, surprising prosecutors who urged the judge to reject the unusual plea that would allow the US president’s son to maintain his innocence.
It is the latest twist in the long-running legal saga of President Joe Biden’s son, who is already confronting potential prison time after his conviction on felony gun charges in June.
More than 100 potential jurors jurors had been taken to court to begin the process of picking the panel that would decide whether he is guilty of misdemeanour and felony charges over what prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least 1.4 million dollars (£1.06 million) in taxes while receiving millions of dollars from foreign business entities.
But defence lawyer Abbe Lowell told the judge that the evidence against Hunter Biden is “overwhelming” and that the president’s son wants to resolve the case with what is referred to as an Alford plea, under which a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.
A prosecutor urged US district judge Mark Scarsi to reject the proposed plea, saying that Hunter Biden “is not entitled to plead guilty on special terms that apply only to him”.
“Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty,” prosecutor Leo Wise said.
White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she was “not able to comment” on Hunter Biden’s plans to change his plea.
President Joe Biden has said he would not pardon or commute a sentence handed down against his son.
Asked again Thursday if the president would pardon Hunter, Ms Jean-Pierre said: ”Still no.”
A last-minute plea would allow Hunter Biden to avoid a second criminal trial in just months. He was convicted in June in Delaware of three felony charges over a gun he bought in 2018.
Hunter Biden walked into court holding hands with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and flanked by Secret Service agents.
Initially, he pleaded not guilty to the charges related to his 2016-2019 taxes and his lawyers have indicated they will argue he did not act “wilfully” or with the intention to break the law, in part because of his well-documented struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.
Mr Scarsi, who was appointed to the bench by former president Donald Trump, placed some restrictions on what jurors would be allowed to hear about the traumatic events that Hunter Biden’s family, friends and attorneys say led to his drug addiction.
The judge barred lawyers from connecting his substance abuse struggles to the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden from cancer or the car accident that killed his mother and sister when he was a toddler.
He also rejected a proposed defence expert lined up to testify about addiction.
The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while flouting the tax law, spending his cash on things like strippers and luxury hotels, “in short, everything but his taxes”.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers had asked Mr Scarsi to also limit prosecutors from highlighting details of his expenses that they say amount to a “character assassination”, including payments made to strippers or pornographic websites.
The judge has said in court papers that he will maintain “strict control” over the presentation of potentially salacious evidence.
Meanwhile, prosecutors could present more details of Hunter Biden’s overseas dealings, which have been at the centre of Republican investigations into the Biden family often seeking, without evidence, to tie the president to an alleged influence peddling scheme.
The special counsel’s team has said it wanted to tell jurors about Hunter Biden’s work for a Romanian businessman, who they say sought to “influence US government policy” while Joe Biden was vice president.
The defence accused prosecutors of releasing details about Hunter Biden’s work for the Romanian in court papers to drum up media coverage and taint the jury pool.
Sentencing in Hunter Biden’s Delaware conviction will take place on November 13. He could face up to 25 years in prison, but as a first-time offender, he is likely to get far less time or avoid prison entirely.
