*UPDATE 5:51 PM* Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in his federal tax case:
“Do you agree you committed every element of every crime in the indictment?” [Los Angeles federal Judge Mark] Scarsi asked Hunter after prosecutors finished a 90-minute marathon reading of the entire indictment.“Yes,” Hunter responded, before saying “guilty” when asked how he pleaded to each charge.He will be sentenced on Dec. 16, more than a month after the 2024 presidential election.“We were as shocked as anyone in the courtroom this morning,” prosecutor Leo Wise said early in the day after Biden first tried to plea. “I don’t know how the defendant could maintain his innocence and agree the facts are true.”
Hunter faces 17 years in prison.
Sentencing takes place on December 16, 2024.
*UPDATE 12:10 PM* The Associated Press reported that Hunter Biden wants to change his plea to guilty in his federal tax case:
Hunter Biden plans to change his not guilty plea in his federal tax case, his defense attorney said Thursday just as jury selection was set to begin.Defense attorney Abbe Lowell announced Hunter Biden’s plans to change his previous plea, just months after the president’s son was convicted of gun charges in a separate case, but did not provide further details.
***Previous reporting…
Jury selection begins today in Hunter Biden’s tax trial in California.
Special Counsel David Weiss investigated Hunter for years.
A Los Angeles grand jury indicted Hunter with nine new tax charges, including three felony counts and six misdemeanors, for allegedly not paying $1.4 million in federal taxes.
Hunter pleaded not guilty to all charges in January.
“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020,” according to the indictment from Weiss.
The charges include failure to file and pay taxes, evasion of assessment, and filing a fraudulent form.
“Between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” wrote Weiss.
The prosecution brought receipts that show Hunter had enough money from 2016 to 2019 to pay his taxes.
Opening statements should begin on Monday.
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