LOS ANGELES, CA — Hunter Biden attempted to resolve his federal tax evasion case in California with a plea where he maintains his innocence but still accepts punishment, his lawyers announced in court Thursday, moments before jury selection was scheduled to begin.
The arrangement won’t be final until District Judge Mark Scarsi, a Trump appointee who has presided over the tax case, gives his stamp of approval in open court. He said Thursday that he would make that decision at a later date.
This type of arrangement, called an “Alford plea,” would see Biden acknowledge that special counsel David Weiss has enough evidence to convict him – and then he would accept whatever sentence Scarsi eventually hands down.
Scarsi asked both sides to submit written briefs on the issue and he would decide later.
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“The public justifiably expects the court to seek truth in transparent proceeding. … A plea such as this should not be used to obfuscate the truth,” Scarsi said during in the hearing, adding that this concern could be “mollified” if the prosecutors and defense attorneys put forward an agreed-upon set of facts about Biden’s conduct regarding his taxes.
He said that, based on the existing legal precedents, there could be a path for Biden to pull this off. Scarsi said it “seems to be it would be enough for the court to get the defendant to admit that the government has sufficient evidence for a jury to convict beyond reasonable doubt,” even if Biden himself believes he is innocent of the charges.
Prosecutors from Weiss’ team said they would object to an Alford plea. Prosecutor Leo Wise told the judge that Lowell’s comments in court were the first time he learned about a potential plea change.
“I want to make something crystal clear – the United States oppose an Alford plea,” Wise said.
“Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty. He is not permitted to plead guilty on special terms,’ Wise added.
Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell had earlier “there has not been an agreement” between the parties – like a plea agreement – in which Biden would plead guilty to some charges in exchange for other charges being dropped. The only offer that Hunter’s team ever got from prosecutors, Lowell said, was for him to plead guilty to all nine counts.
The potential resolution of the tax case came on the brink of a trial in downtown Los Angeles. This would have been Biden’s second criminal trial this year, after he was convicted in June on three federal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden was charged with nine tax crimes, including three felony charges. Prosecutors allege that Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes and evaded taxes by filing tax returns with fraudulent business deductions. They also allege that Biden was using his money on luxury cars, extravagant hotels and sex workers, instead of paying taxes when they were due.
The president’s son eventually paid roughly $2 million in back taxes and penalties after learning of the investigation and getting sober, following a years-long struggle with drug addiction and alcoholism. In the weeks before the trial, the judge blocked Biden’s lawyers from telling jurors about the belated tax payment, or about the potential origins of his addiction – dealing a major blow to his defense strategy.
During the brief hearing, Scarsi noted that there were around 120 prospective jurors waiting inside the courthouse, because the jury selection process was scheduled to begin Thursday morning.
Scarsi indicated that if he doesn’t accept Biden’s attempt to promptly resolve the case that the trial will move forward with jury selection on Friday as planned.
Lowell blasted prosecutors for accusing Biden of seeking special treatment.
“I know it makes a headline,” but “it’s so wrong,” Lowell said.
He added, “Alford exists. The Supreme Court said it exists,” and “all over the United States, people do this.”
Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen was not allowed in the courtroom, drawing a complaint from Lowell. Nobody except the parties and their attorneys were let inside because all of the extra space in the courtroom pews were going to be used for potential jurors during jury selection, the judge said.
Lowell’s presence and involvement is notable. He was the lead defense attorney for his client’s Delaware gun case, but he was absent from a key pretrial hearing two weeks ago in the California tax case. Instead, celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, who was retained earlier this summer, took the lead at that hearing.
President Joe Biden has continually said that he will not pardon his son in either of his cases. It is not clear if the president’s thinking has changed since dropping his reelection bid, but he still has the ability to pardon his son or commute his sentence.
In July, Biden added Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos to his legal team. Abbe Lowell, who handled Biden’s gun case in Delaware, was expected to take a back seat for his tax case with Geragos as the lead attorney. CNN previously reported that there were plea discussions earlier this summer that did not lead to a deal at that time.
