Hunter Biden Pleads Guilty
Hunter Biden just pled guilty to all of the tax charges against him, staving off a trial in which prosecutors were intent to once again introduce things unrelated to tax charges.
He will be sentenced in December.
Update: Here is Hunter’s statement.
I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again. 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. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty.
Like millions of Americans, I failed to file and pay my taxes on time. For that I am responsible. As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case.
When I was addicted, I wasn’t thinking about my taxes, I was thinking about surviving. But the jury would never have heard that or know that I had paid every penny of my back taxes including penalties.
That I have been clean and sober for more than five years now because I have had the love and support of my family.
I can never repay them for showing up for me and helping me through my worst moments. But I can protect them from being publicly humiliated for my failures.
For anyone now going through the scourge of addiction, please know there is a light at the end of that seemingly endless tunnel. I was where you are now. Don’t quit right before the miracle.
My heart goes out to the Biden family.. I’ve often thought some prominent Democrat was going to have to sacrifice themself to save the Republic. Didn’t think it would have to be President Biden and his son.
I will bet money he did it to avoid being a political distraction and that Joe has told Hunter he will pardon him. If so, I’m glad.
From reports he did it bc he couldn’t sit thru another trial where prosecutors brought in extraneous embarrassments.
At the hearing on August 21, Geragos accused the prosecution of unnecessarily trying to discuss Rob Walker and Romanian politician stuff, saying he expects that this will be the number one thing reported from the hearing, as it had been when that topic was put into court filings.
As Geragos made the allegation, Leo Wise’s entire face & head turned bright red.
Then as he got up to speak to the judge, he was doing a “loose tongue jut”. One of these:
https://archive.is/ynsxa
https://archive.is/UpPzm
I think he really wanted to make that a talking point at the trial.
And they mentioned a ridiculous parade of witnesses, strippers, sex workers, family members, etc.
When they go low, we go nigh?
Agree with your first premise, but then-candidate Biden promised not to pardon as I recall. I’d assume he would stand by that, unless it’s on the way out the door on his way to an inauguration.
If Trump wins in November, and if Hunter is sentenced before 20 January 2025, I’m betting Joe Biden will commute the sentence, and perhaps issue an explanation why. He would have nothing to lose at that point.
I would expect Joe to commute Hunter’s sentence regardless of who wins in November. It’s just cleaner if he does it and doesn’t make Harris do it in the interests of justice. If Republicans howl, he can point to the SCOTUS immunity decision and maybe it will get them to rethink if unbounded pardon power is a good thing.
I suspect Hunter will end up pardoned or a prison sentence commuted in January, either way.
And if so, Archer may have burned his bridge by hanging out with Bobulinski and MTG in July at the RNC.
Biden did promise not to pardon his son, as a candidate. But as an exiting president with no future political aspirations and only one son left, who is facing 17 years or more in jail, I have a feeling he might change his mind.
Pardon = commute? Don’t think so.
If Biden does not, I hope Harris does as soon as…….
My most sincere hope is that a pardon happens in exactly the way you describe. Why not?
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Alford Plea, and only after judges rejected his attempt to use the Cannon defense (special prosecutors are unconstitutional) and Bruen defense (laws against drug users buying guns weren’t present in 1800). So, really taking a bullet for his dad’s political party.
No. First Hunter made an Alford plea. Then the prosecution said they would not accept it. Then Hunter made just a guilty plea. Thinking the WaPo link was not updated when the story was.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/09/05/hunter-biden-alford-guilty-plea-taxes/
I did not expect that. Are you in LA, Marcy? Some time back I think you mentioned you might go there for the trial.
My own civil trial was such an emotional drain. It went on for days. But even after I lost there, things started to improve quickly after that.
I hope that Hunter’s sentence is fair. And if not, I hope the sentence is commuted. Honestly, the whole stinking ordeal that Trump, Barr, Weiss, et.al., put him through should count for time served, at least. I’m guessing that the previous trial may have had an impact on this decision.
I wish the entire Biden family well. It will be good to be able to move on.
No. I decided not to go.
The sentence won’t be fair. This judge has a reputation of oversentencing.
An insightful decision not to go. Or maybe just the luck of the Irish.
Well, then I think it should definitely be commuted. Maybe even pardoned. I really don’t think any sense of misplaced pride should stop that.
Does a president have the authority to commute a harsh sentence into a reasonable one? Or does it have to be full release or nothing?
The pardon power has no practical limits. Biden could issue a full pardon of all federal crimes committed or that could have been committed before the pardon was issued. He could commute one or all sentences to time already served or to any sentence shorter than the one determined by the trial court judge.
re-earlofhuntingdon
September 5, 2024 at 9:08 pm
I assume if he was pardoned, some local DA could charge the cases, like Bannon facing NY in the Wall fraud. Correct?
The posse didn’t get to stage their shit show prosecution so you know the sentencing will be heinous in order to make the biggest possible headline splash.
Color me a total skeptic of a lack of coordination with the judiciary.
This is a case in which a pardon, post-sentencing is merited. The only question I would have is whether it will be the last act by President as he comes near the final days in office, or one of the first by President Harris should she win the election and become POTUS.
Wow. A man whose dad taught him courage and humility, by example and by word.
I’m sure Marcy will get the transcripts and fill us in more when she gets the chance, but the Daily Beast reported that Scarsi accepted the plea over prosecutors’ objections, and by nature of reporting below, it is NOT an ALFORD plea, but instead a true plea of guilty. It does not clarify if the plea was then acceptable to Weiss & team.
With FARA not charged, Hunter still has grounds to plead the 5th. Morris will not have to testify. Joe has only to wait until after the election – whoever wins – to pardon Hunter on the gun charge and this one. Has Hunter an appeal left over motions denial in the tax case? It seems with a plea he’s negated any/all tax appeals, but still can appeal the gun charges where he has preserved the record. Simplest approach, a pardon during lame duck time. Keep the law license if pardoned, or is that a private matter still left to bar discretion?
It seems the State bar where he is licensed can recommend the state’s top court disbar Hunter, and that is State action, not federal. (Jeffrey Clark faces disbarment, while the immunity decision makes it unlikely he’d be prosecuted, so it likely would be the same, State action and not federal with Hunter, but his misconduct was not within the practice of law).
Error Prone (“EP” herein) –
I’m so impressed you answered one of your own questions! The case of John Eastman is one you can follow to understand disbarment procedures in California. As to your other questions, I’ll try to be brief.
Two things, to start:
A- Hunter Biden apparently did not have a pre-arranged plea deal worked out with the government in this California tax case before he pled guilty today, and I have not seen a transcript of the proceedings, so we are relying on press reports at the moment, to extract what we know.
B – Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 governs plea bargains in federal court.
EP Q1) “Has Hunter an appeal left over motions deni[ed] in the tax case?”
Ans.: As far as we know, Hunter has not waived his right to appeal adverse earlier rulings nor waived his right to direct appeal his soon-to-come conviction (adjudication of guilt by the judge) based on his guilty plea.
– Hunter appealed at least 2 issues before trial: Scarsi’s denial of Hunter’s motions to dismiss based on alleged [1a] vindictive prosecution and [1b] failure to recognize his Immunity-under-prior-plea-agreement, but these appeals were rejected by the 9th Circuit in May, because his appeals were premature.* But now that he has pled, once the judge sentences him and renders final judgment, yes, Hunter can appeal these adverse 1a and 1b rulings, if Rule 11(a)(2) conditions are met.
– Rule 11(a)(2) says Hunter can reserve “in writing the right to have an appellate court review an adverse determination of a specified pretrial motion,” but “with the consent of the court and the government” and we are not sure what prosecutors consented to. Under this rule, a plea is considered “conditional” and defendents who prevail here may then simply withdraw their guilty plea after their successful Rule 11(a)(2) appeal.
EP Q2) “It seems … [Hunter] still can appeal the gun charges [in Delaware] where he has preserved the record.”
Ans.: Yes.
EP Q3) “It seems with a plea he’s negated any/all tax appeals…”
Ans.: Entering a plea of guilty does not automatically mean a defendant has waived his right to appeal a conviction nor waived his right to appeal any pretrial adverse ruling (see Rule 11(a)(2) discussion, supra).
– Rule 11(e) governs appeals of convictions. It states that after a plea is accepted by a court and can no longer be withdrawn, a judgment of guilt can be “set aside only by direct appeal” or collaterol attack.**
– Rule 11(b)(1)(N) governs any waiver a defendant might make of the right to appeal and the Rule’s use of the conditional “if any” makes clear that such a waiver is something that would be negotiated in advance between the government and defendant, and made clear to the defendant in court during his plea colloqui.***
– Since Rule 11(c)(1) prohibits Judge Scarsi from participating in plea negotiations, and no prior agreement was reached with prosecutors, unless their was an adjournment and side negotiations with prosecutors (which we would likely need to read the transcript to ascertain), I think it is most likely that Hunter DID NOT waive his right to appeal his upcoming ‘final’ adjudication of guilt.
It might seem counterintuitive that a person would plead guilty and then appeal a conviction that was rendered based on his guilty plea, but prosecutors have to follow rules when they indict and try a defendant. “The amount of evidence” and the nature of judge-decided admissible evidence against a defendant is something that may prompt a guilty plea in the first place. But, rulings a judge makes on motions to limit evidence (motions in limine) might actually be wrong — the judge might actually agree to allow in evidence which is impermissible. But defendant’s cannot appeal this in nearly all cases until after judgment is final.
In Hunter Biden’s case, he stated he did not want to put his family through additional embarrasment and Marcy has posted about evidence the judge was going to allow that she views as improper. Marcy has also argued persuasively that elements charged in the indictment are improper (e.g., careful jockeying around with dates to get the case in under the statute of limitations), which could mean an appeals court could potentiallly view that not all charges in this case should have been brought in the first place. Biden appears to have calculated he has lost his ability to persuade the judge that some evidence should not be brought before a jury and some charges should not have been brought in the first place, but given his lot, it’s better to accept guilt BASED ON WHAT PROSECUTORS HAVE BEEN PERMITTED to argue/charge, and take your chances with the appeals court.
______________
* Biden tried to appeal Scarsi’s rulings before his case was tried and final judgement rendered. This is called an interlocutory appeal, and is governed by caselaw in each circuit under what is known as the Collateral Order Doctrine.
** The government challenged Biden’s interlocutory appeal with a collaterol attack, arguing that the court did not (yet) have jurisdiction to hear an appeal at this stage, because the issues Biden raised were not “immediately appealable collateral order[s].” The Appeals Court agreed.
*** The plea colloqui involves a frank discussion between the judge and an under-oath defendant and is governed by Rule 11(b)(1), which spells out procedures a judge must follow in considering whether to accept a defendant’s plea of guilt. This involves, among other things, the judge informing the defendant of:
– 11(b)(1)(B) to (E) – his constitutional rights that are relevant in the trial context;
– 11(b)(1)(F) – the rights he is waiving with this plea, which are essentially and ONLY the right to a (speedy) jury trial and all the rights that go along with that (right to confront witnesses, testify on his own behalf, etc.); and
– 11(b)(1)(G) to (M) [and (O) if defendant is a non-citizen] – the charges and potential penalties the defendant may face once adjudged to be guilty.
Lowell said they would keep their options open on appeals. There are several:
The original plea deal, in which Scarsi and Noreika issued mildly conflicting opinions and which conflict in several other ways.
The claim that the IRS agents caused this (which would be less persuasive given the guilty plea).
The selective prosecution claim that, while solid, Scarsi significant undercut procedurally.
The Special Counsel appointment.
There were other claims about the way it was charged, including pretty persuasive venue and SOL issues, that presumably would fail with the guilty plea.
I still remain confused as to why someone can be prosecuted for not paying taxes when those taxes have been paid.
Because Barrfy-Warrfy Trump gooba bing-bang butheremails Ukraine-bad!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a middle aged man with unconscious trauma and anguish in combination with failing relationships will be in want of a midlife crisis. Given the role of Russian intelligence, Guiliani, Smirnov, and the manifest malfeasance of the DOJ in the Hunter Biden prosecution, so expertly covered here, the whole thing strikes me as a fascist scapegoating exercise. Hard drugs are an animus of the guilty appetite in modern America, a kind of devil in the American imagination. It’s good to be settled. He can do the time. Hunter will be okay, I think.
I’m really surprised. I figured that now Biden isn’t running, the right’s incentive to prosecute his son would be gone and they would just work another plea deal.
What political benefit do they get from it now? Why do they hate Joe Biden so much? I don’t get it.
Their hate feeds on itself – their propaganda networks have been loud and angry about Hunter Biden so they’ve gotten loud and angry about him, and they’ve forgotten why they started being angry.
They forgot that it started as a ploy, because it’s easier to push this sort of thing if you believe in it, and it’s easy enough to convince yourself of all sorts of stuff if you’re marinating in a closed ecosystem…
They know one way. They envision no other.
Adam Serwer, years ago, identified the spirit of the time: Cruelty is the point.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/