Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty to tax crimes as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to court papers filed on Tuesday. Additionally, Biden reached a diversion agreement connected to the unlawful possession of a weapon. The plea deal must first be accepted by a judge and would likely keep Hunter Biden out of jail.
The president’s son was charged with two counts of willful failure to pay income tax. The third charge is from possession of a firearm in 2018, which he was in possession of while using crack cocaine. Biden has denied drug use when applying to secure the gun. In a separate agreement on the gun charge, Hunter Biden will be entered into a pretrial diversion program, which means those charges will likely be taken off of his record if he complies with the terms of the program.
The news comes as Republicans have used Hunter Biden to attack President Biden over the course of his administration. Hunter Biden has been under investigation for tax matters going back to 2018. The development is also sure to shake up the presidential race, putting the president on defense from Republican attacks on the matter.
The 2024 Republican presidential primary contenders were quick to respond to the news, with many of them claiming that the plea deal was evidence of a double-standard.
“Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere ‘traffic ticket.’ Our system is BROKEN!” former President Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis referred to the plea deal as a “sweetheart deal” in a tweet, saying “if Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago.”
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley released her own statement, saying the plea deal raises questions of a “double standard.”
“This plea deal only raises further questions about Hunter Biden’s crimes and the double standard of justice in our federal government,” Haley said. “There is clearly a lot more the Biden family has to answer for.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R) said the plea deal is “is another reason Americans have lost faith in Biden’s Justice Department” and praised congressional Republicans’ investigations into Hunter Biden.
“While the Biden family gets a slap on the wrist with kid gloves, DOJ throws the kitchen sink at political opponents, raids the homes of pro-life advocates, and targets parents as ‘domestic terrorists,’” Scott said. “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the Grassley and Comer investigations, the need for restoring credibility to our justice system, and defeating Joe Biden in 2024.”
Vivek Ramaswamy blasted the plea deal as “a joke” in a tweet.
“It’s a feigned retreat & reveals they’re even more scared than ever of scrutiny for the real crimes,” Ramaswamy said. “The real target is the audio tapes of the alleged bribe for Hunter & Joe Biden from the Ukrainian executive of oligarch-owned Burisma. And the hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds kicked back to Ukraine to make good on the favor. Don’t buy the deflection, it’s just a smokescreen.”
