Hunter Biden‘s trial in California ended before it began Thursday after the first son decided in court to plead guilty to all nine tax charges he was facing and accept whatever sentence the judge decided to impose on him.
Judge Mark Scarsi warned Biden that he could face up to 17 years in prison and up to $1.3 million in fines after the first son made the last-minute decision to enter an “open plea,” which involves pleading guilty without negotiating a deal with prosecutors.
Government prosecutors read aloud all 56 pages of the indictment that special counsel David Weiss brought against Biden last December to make clear to the courtroom what tax crimes Biden had committed, according to CNN.
“Do you agree that you committed every element of every crime?” Scarsi asked the first son after the reading was over.
“Yes,” Biden responded.
Scarsi set Biden’s sentencing hearing for Dec. 16.
Thursday’s turn of events came the same day the case was expected to proceed to jury selection. Hunter Biden’s guilty plea allowed him to avert the trial in the eleventh hour, and it marked an endpoint in Weiss’s yearslong, high-profile investigation and prosecution of President Joe Biden’s son.
The trial was expected to last weeks and become a deeply embarrassing and personal ordeal for the Biden family. Hunter Biden faced accusations that he made millions of dollars from foreign business ventures during the 2015 to 2019 tax years and that he spent it on prostitutes, drugs, and other frivolous purchases while neglecting to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
Weiss had indicated that he planned to call witnesses to the stand, including Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriends, to testify about the first son’s behavior during that time period. At the time, Hunter Biden was grappling with crack cocaine and alcohol addiction after his brother, Beau Biden, died in 2015 from cancer.
Weiss also secured a conviction against Hunter Biden in June on three felonies related to a gun purchase. The historic return from the jury marked the first time a sitting president’s child was criminally convicted. The trial itself, set in the Biden family’s home state of Delaware, put personal strain on Joe Biden as it showcased an unflattering and dark period in his son’s life, similar to what was expected to occur in California’s trial.
On Thursday, Hunter Biden blasted his father’s DOJ in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner, accusing the special counsel’s team of exploiting his addiction battles.
“I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again,” the first son said. “When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one path left for me. I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment.”
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Hunter Biden is set to be sentenced for his gun conviction in November, and he could face months or longer in prison for those charges, as well.
Joe Biden has vowed not to pardon his son, and while some have speculated that his calculus could have changed since dropping his bid for reelection this summer, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that the president had not changed his mind.
“I can say that it is still very much a ‘no’ to the questions that I have gotten about if the president is going to pardon his son,” Jean-Pierre said.
