Trial averted

Tax offenses: Hunter Biden pleads guilty

(Bild: AP)

Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has surprisingly pleaded guilty in the trial against him for several tax offenses. This was reported unanimously by several US media outlets from the court in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 54-year-old is thus avoiding a trial.

At the start of the court session in Los Angeles, Hunter initially surprised Biden with another legal move and offered an unusual agreement with the judiciary. Specifically, he proposed a deal to the judiciary in which the defendant would not plead guilty in the traditional sense, but at the same time acknowledge that the evidence in the case would probably lead to a guilty verdict. However, the public prosecutor rejected the proposal.

Trial averted with guilty plea
This was followed by Biden's - also surprising - classic guilty plea. He had previously pleaded not guilty in the case. With his about-turn, he has now averted a trial in which further sensitive details from his business and private life would have been revealed in public.

(Bild: AP)

In December, Hunter Biden was charged with several tax offenses. The 54-year-old is accused of failing to pay federal taxes properly for several years. He was accused of spending millions on an extravagant lifestyle instead of paying his tax bills. Hunter Biden only paid his taxes retrospectively.

Almost 1.3 million euros in taxes not paid
Hunter Biden allegedly failed to pay around 1.4 million dollars (1.26 million euros) in taxes between 2016 and 2019 and instead led an extravagant lifestyle with expenses for drugs and prostitutes. He is accused of three criminal offenses and six other offenses to avoid tax payments. Specifically, it concerns the years 2016 to mid-October 2020 - i.e. until shortly before Joe Biden's election as president.

Joe Biden (right) has repeatedly had to explain himself to his son Hunter (left) over the course of his career.

(Bild: AP)

During this time, Hunter Biden booked more than seven million US dollars in income, according to the indictment. At the time, however, he had decided not to pay taxes but to spend the money on other things: "on drugs, hostesses and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other things of a personal nature, in short: on everything except his taxes".

The meticulous list of delicate expenses in the indictment, such as for sex clubs and "adult entertainment", caused quite a stir. Hunter Biden must have been very keen not to reveal such details publicly in a trial.

Convicted of illegal possession of firearms
In another criminal trial, Hunter Biden was found guilty of illegal possession of firearms in June. In that case, he was accused of making false statements when purchasing a weapon in October 2018 and concealing his drug addiction at the time. He denied the allegations. All kinds of delicate private matters were dealt with in public during the trial. The sentence in the weapons proceedings is to be announced on November 13.

Hunter Biden's negative headlines in recent years and in particular his legal problems in recent months have also put his father Joe Biden under political pressure. According to the media, Hunter Biden is the first child of a sitting US president to be found guilty in criminal proceedings at federal level.

Republicans used this for political attacks against the US President, who has since withdrawn from the election campaign for a second term in office for other reasons. In his place, Vice President Kamala Harris is now running as the Democratic candidate in the election on November 5.