Hunter Biden, the son of the president of the United States, has reached a provisional agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two minor tax offenses and confess to the facts of a gun charge under terms that will likely keep him out of prison, according to court documents filed on Tuesday.
Per Washington Post, a federal judge would have to sanction any prospective plea agreement. The prosecutors and defense attorneys requested a judicial hearing where Hunter Biden, 53, can submit a plea.
Hunter Biden Aims to Avoid Time Behind Prison
The agreement, according to the attorney for the younger Biden, "concludes" the lengthy criminal investigation into the president's son.
However, US Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, the case's primary prosecutor, stated that the investigation "is ongoing," implying that matters beyond the tax and firearms issues are still under investigation.
The investigation was initiated in 2018, during the presidency of Donald Trump. Since 2020, Republican politicians have repeatedly accused Hunter Biden of extensive malfeasance in his international business dealings and predicted that the Biden administration would be unwilling to pursue the case.
The terms of the proposed agreement, which were negotiated with Weiss, a holdover from Trump's administration, were swiftly rejected by congressional Republicans on Tuesday, who pledged to continue their investigation into the Biden family.
Hunter Biden has provisionally agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses for failure to pay in 2017 and 2018, according to documents filed in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday.
A court document indicates that in both of these years, Biden was a resident of Washington and earned more than $1.5 million in taxable income, for which he owed more than $100,000 in late income taxes.
According to people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to characterize aspects of the case that are not yet public, prosecutors intend to recommend probation for these counts. Representatives of Biden have previously stated that he paid the IRS what he owed.
The second court document pertains to the firearms allegation. The letter states that "the defendant has agreed to engage into a Pretrial Diversion Agreement regarding the firearm Information."
Biden would not technically be pleading guilty to the firearms allegation if the case were handled as a diversion case. A diversion is usually an option for nonviolent offenders with substance addiction issues.
Federal agents investigating Hunter Biden announced on October 6 that they had gathered sufficient evidence to charge him with tax and gun-related offenses.
Joe Biden: 'I am Very Proud of My Son'
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden voiced his support for his son Hunter. Joe Biden is in the Bay Area until Wednesday, primarily to raise funds for his presidential campaign in 2024. However, he appeared before the cameras for less than five minutes on Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco at an event about artificial intelligence policy alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Per Daily Mail, Joe Biden stated, "I am very proud of my son," in response to a barrage of inquiries about Hunter's plea agreement. He initially dismissed them but eventually responded.
When asked if he had spoken with Hunter today, he did not respond to a shouted question about whether he had encouraged his son to enter a guilty plea. The press was then led out of the chamber.
Joe Biden has previously stated that he is "proud" of Hunter, citing his recovery from drug abuse. The Department of Justice provided details about Hunter's plea agreement, which was criticized by former President Donald Trump and his top congressional allies.
Five years ago, the president's son was investigated for tax and financial allegations and for purchasing a handgun while attesting that he did not abuse narcotics. That contradicted his own autobiography, in which he described a crack cocaine addiction that led to a spell in rehab.
A federal judge must still authorize the agreement with prosecutors, and it comes at a time when the Justice Department is under scrutiny for its handling of high-profile investigations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
According to NBC sources, prosecutors will recommend probation for the president's son, which would spare him prison time but could find him in hot water if he violates the terms. The tax offenses to which he will plead guilty are both misdemeanors.