As RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar reported from a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday, First Son Hunter Biden entered an open guilty plea to nine charges brought against him in a federal indictment related to failure to pay income taxes and tax evasion. He will be sentenced on December 16 and faces up to 17 years in prison and over $1.3 million in fines.
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His lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell spoke to reporters after the court session and said Hunter’s plea was a “brave, loving thing to do.” Some would argue that it would have been a brave, loving thing to do a long time ago and would have saved a lot of people’s time and money and angst, but here we are.
It was a selfless act, Lowell contended in remarkably defiant remarks, saying that if the proceedings had been allowed to continue, things would have become a “show trial.”
Hunter decided to enter his plea to protect those he loves from unnecessary hurt and cruel humiliation.
This plea prevents that kind of show trial that would have not provided all the facts or served any real point in justice.
Watch:
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Lowell continued, portraying Hunter as the victim of a cruel justice system. He also indicated their intention to appeal, although it’s unclear how they could do that after entering a guilty plea.
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He will now move on with us to the sentencing phase while keeping open the options to raise the many clear issues with this case on appeal.
There’s no doubt this case was an extreme and unusual one for the government to bring. Like millions of Americans, Hunter was late in filing and paying his taxes. Unlike those millions of Americans, he was charged criminally for his failures that occurred during the depths of his addiction to drugs and alcohol, and which he has rectified by paying his overdue taxes in full with interest and penalties. Years before he was ever charged.
In fact, Hunter actually overpaid his taxes in the year he was charged with tax evasion. Hunter put his family first today, and it was a brave and loving thing for him to do.
The First Son faces sentencing December 16. Whether lame-duck President Joe Biden will pardon him is the big question everyone will be asking in the meantime. (He says “no,” but I can’t think of a single reason that he wouldn’t.)