Hunter Biden to plead guilty to federal tax charges, reaches 'tentative agreement' on gun charges

Washington [US], June 20 : US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has reached a 'tentative agreement' with the federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes and get the gun charge resolved, so that he remains out of jail, The Washington Post reported citing the court papers filed on Tuesday.

However, any proposed plea deal would have to be approved by a federal judge. Both the prosecutors and the defence counsel have requested a court hearing at which Hunter Biden, 53, can enter his plea.

The agreement pertains to an investigation that was opened in 2018 during the Trump administration, and has generated intense interest and criticism since 2020 from Republican politicians who accused the Biden administration of reluctance to pursue the case, The Washington Post reported.

The terms of the proposed deal negotiated with Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, a holdover from President Donald Trump's administration are likely to face similar scrutiny.

The Post stated that the papers indicate that Biden has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax charges of failure to pay in 2017 and 2018.

The combined tax liability is roughly 1.2 million USD over those years, according to people familiar with the plea deal, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity.

Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of probation for those counts, these people said. Biden's representatives have said he previously paid back the IRS what he owed.

In a letter filed in federal court in Wilmington on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said they were filing two documents called criminal information typically used in cases in which a defendant has agreed to plead guilty.

"The defendant has agreed to plead guilty to both counts of the tax Information," the prosecutors wrote.

The second criminal information is about the gun charge. In that case, the letter states, "The defendant has agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement with respect to the firearm Information."

According to The Washington Post, if the gun charge is handled as a diversion case, it means Biden will not technically be pleading guilty to the crime. Diversion is an option typically applied to nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems.

"In all, prosecutors will recommend two years of probation and diversion conditions, these people said. If Biden successfully meets the conditions of the diversion program, the gun charge would be removed from his record at the end of that period," The Post further cited people familiar with the plea deal.

"Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of failure to file tax payments when due," one of his lawyers, Chris Clark, said in a written statement.

"A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward," The Post quoted the lawyer as saying.