US President Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failure to pay federal income tax, and admitted to illegally owning a gun, prosecutors said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Hunter Biden, whose business dealings have been under attack for years from Republican lawmakers, acknowledged possessing a firearm despite being a drug user.<\/p>\n
The plea agreement between the 53-year-old and the US Attorney\u2019s Office in his home state of Delaware will still need to be approved by a federal judge.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s son is unlikely to face any prison time.<\/p>\n
President Biden and his wife, Jill, issued a brief statement following the announcement of the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,\u201d White House spokesperson Ian Sams said. \u201cWe will have no further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Attorney David Weiss said Hunter Biden had agreed to plead guilty to \u201ctwo counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the charges, Biden failed to file his tax returns on time on earnings of more than $1.5 million for 2017 and 2018.<\/p>\n
In both years he owed more than $100,000 in taxes on those earnings.<\/p>\n
Each count brings up to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 or double what he stood to gain by breaking the law.<\/p>\n
Weiss said Hunter Biden was also facing one count of \u201cpossession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunter Biden has admitted to struggles with drugs in the past.<\/p>\n
He will not be prosecuted on the gun charge but will enter what is known as \u201cpretrial diversion,\u201d which often involves counseling or rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
Christopher Clark, Hunter Biden\u2019s lawyer, in a statement to US media, said \u201cHunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life,\u201d Clark said. \u201cHe looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Republican president Donald Trump, who is facing felony charges of mishandling government secrets, slammed the agreement as a \u201cmere traffic ticket\u201d for Hunter Biden.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur system is BROKEN!\u201d Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n
AFP<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US President Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failure to pay federal income tax, and admitted to illegally owning a gun, prosecutors said Tuesday. Hunter Biden, whose business dealings have been under attack for years from Republican lawmakers, acknowledged possessing a firearm despite being a drug user. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t