Hunter Biden, 53, son of President Joe Biden, has agreed to plead guilty to two federal tax violation charges and one violation of gun laws, per reports Tuesday morning.
Biden will plead guilty to willful failure to pay federal income tax — most likely on his foreign earnings — and will enter a “pretrial diversion program” regarding his gun crime, indicating that he will face no jail time.
Biden’s dubious business exploits came to light during the Obama administration, after he was discharged from the Navy for drug use and immediately found employment on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Reporters briefly questioned the White House about Hunter Biden’s role, given that his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, had been placed in charge of Ukraine policy under President Barack Obama. State Department officials complained about the conflict of interest, but were told that the Vice President was grieving for his other son, Beau Biden, who died after a battle with brain cancer. The issue was never resolved.
President Donald Trump raised the question of Hunter Biden’s role with then-newly-installed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019 — an overture for which House Democrats impeached the president.
Trump’s concerns were vindicated by the discovery and publication in 2020 of a laptop apparently belonging to Hunter Biden, which contained emails and other records documenting his business interests. But Silicon Valley social media companies, and the mainstream media itself, suppressed and censored the story, and intelligence figures created the false impression that it was Russian propaganda. After the election, Hunter Biden admitted that he had been under investigation for tax violations, but the Bidens continued to deny claims of corruption.
Critics also pointed out that Hunter Biden had likely lied on a federal gun purchase form when lying about his addiction to drugs. The topic surfaced periodically as President Biden vowed to take executive action on guns.
The plea deal will likely involve Hunter Biden admitting to misdemeanor charges that will keep him from jail — and will avoid a trial. President Biden could pardon his son at any point, voiding any criminal consequences.
News of the plea deal emerged less than two weeks after the Department of Justice indicted former President Donald Trump on felony charges with lengthy prison terms related to his handling of presidential documents.
This story is developing.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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