Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to at least some of the nine tax evasion charges against him, in a stunning last-minute reversal at his criminal trial in Los Angeles.
The change was not due to a plea deal, with prosecutor Leo Wise telling Judge Mark Scarsi on Thursday: ‘this is the first we’re hearing of this’.
The shock revelation was made by Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell in front of the judge, while 120 potential jurors waited next door to be selected for his trial.
Lowell cited legal cases and precedents suggesting that by pleading guilty, the judge would have to decide on the facts of the case rather than a jury, and the judge could only use material that has already been filed in the case.
Wise said he needed time to review the legal case Lowell cited, and the judge allowed them to take a break until 11am.
The shocking U-turn is an apparent Hail Mary strategy by the defense to try to stop damaging and embarrassing evidence being presented to the jury.
Hunter’s lawyers did not clarify whether he was pleading guilty to all nine charges including three felonies, or just some of them.
‘We’ll have to wait and see what they do,’ Hunter’s attorney Mark Geragos told DailyMail.com outside the courtroom.
Hunter Biden is seen arriving at court with wife Melissa Cohen at his side as his tax evasion trial kicks off in Los Angeles Thursday
The case marks the second high-profile trial this year for Hunter, who faces multiple charges on evading $1.4million in taxes
In court Lowell told Judge Scarsi that Hunter would be taking an ‘Alford plea’, meaning he would accept a guilty verdict while maintaining his innocence.
Lowell also told the judge that they had previously never accepted a plea deal, because the only offer the government made was to plead guilty to all charges.
His statement may suggest that Hunter is now deciding to plead guilty to only some of his charges. He faces a maximum of 17 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
The president’s son had arrived at federal court earlier Thursday morning with wife Melissa Cohen at his side.
He entered the courtroom with lead attorney Mark Geragos, Abbe Lowell, Kevin Morris, ex Biden aide and Hunter’s business partner Fran Person, as well as two other attorneys on his defense team.
The First Son – who is facing his second criminal trial this year – is accused of nine crimes including three felony counts and six misdemeanors for failing to pay $1.4million in taxes and lying on his IRS returns.
Chauffeured to the court from his Malibu home by his Secret Service escort in a convoy of blacked-out SUVs, he was snapped heading into the courthouse dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, clasping his wife’s hand.
Among the sordid details of the case is evidence that Hunter spent tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, drugs, hotel rooms for days-long benders, porn site subscriptions and a Lamborghini rental – then deducted them on his tax return as business expenses.
He comes to the Los Angeles federal court from a humiliating defeat in Delaware in June, where a jury found him guilty of lying about his crack addiction to buy a gun in 2018.
The president’s son switched lawyers ahead of his trial, retaining prominent LA celebrity attorney Mark Geragos in July. He is seen arriving in federal court on Thursday morning
The criminal defense lawyer has previously Chris Brown when he was charged with assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna, and more recently Jasveen Sangha, the so-called ‘Ketamine Queen’ who is facing charges in connection to the death of Matthew Perry
Hunter, 54, faces the same two federal prosecutors, Leo Wise and Derek Hines, who trounced his hotshot Washington, DC attorney Abbe Lowell in the previous criminal trial.
He is desperately hoping for a better result in this case, in which a conviction could fetch him a much heftier prison sentence of up to 17 years and $750,000 in fines.
He has swapped out Lowell for celebrity LA lawyer Mark Geragos as lead counsel – known for representing Chris Brown, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Bill Clinton’s brother Roger, Michael Jackson, Colin Kaepernick, Winona Ryder – and more recently Jasveen Sangha, the so-called ‘Ketamine Queen’ who is facing charges in connection to the death of Matthew Perry.
Both criminal cases were brought by Special Counsel David Weiss, after a five-year probe into Hunter’s debauched life and shady overseas business dealings.
Geragos says the prosecution plans to use salacious details to ‘slime’ the First Son in front of the jury.
Hunter’s team already sustained a slew of defeats in pre-trial hearings that potentially kneecapped the plans for his defense.
Geragos wanted psychological experts to testify to convince the jury Hunter’s drug addiction led to his debauched behavior and alleged tax evasion, and that the childhood trauma of his mother and sister dying in a car crash in 1972 and his brother’s death from brain cancer in 2015 were to blame.
But Judge Mark Scarsi was having none of it, ruling that Hunter’s expert, Joshua Lee, would not be allowed to testify.
During a pre-trial hearing last month, the defense suffered was dealt a blow in the case after Judge Scarsi ruled that the jury will not be told that Hunter’s multi-million-dollar tax bill he is charged with failing to pay, was later paid off by his wealthy Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris (pictured)
Hunter’s legal troubles come after compromising photos, videos, texts, and emails of the president’s son from his abandoned laptop were published online
In another blow to the defense, Scarsi ruled that the jury will not be told that Hunter’s multi-million-dollar tax bill he is charged with failing to pay, was later paid off by his wealthy Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris.
In a pre-trial hearing last month, the judge warned that if lawyers talked in front of the jury about topics he had outlawed, they could be fined ‘six figures’.
The prosecution plan to wheel out similar devastating evidence they used in the Delaware gun crime trial, including recordings of Hunter’s own voice reading potentially incriminating excerpts from the audiobook version of his memoir, Beautiful Things, confessing to his drug binges.
A pool of 100 jurors were quizzed on their attitudes about tax laws, their views on people who fail to pay, their family history of drug addiction, and their political activities.
The potential jurors were drawn from LA and six neighboring counties.
In the 2020 presidential election, voters there sided with Hunter’s father over Donald Trump, 63% to 35%.
Judge Scarsi said he would select 12 jurors and four backup ‘alternates’.
Jury selection is expected to continue through Thursday and Friday. Attorneys are set to kick off the trial with opening statements on Monday.
The trial is estimated by both sides to last eight days.
Witnesses are set to include Hunter’s ex wife Kathleen; his brother’s widow who became Hunter’s lover, Hallie Biden; and Lunden Roberts, whom he hired as an assistant, impregnated, then cut her from his company’s medical insurance.
If convicted, Hunter could still be pardoned by Joe Biden while he is President. He has claimed he will not pardon or even commute Hunter’s sentence, but could change his mind in the weeks following the November election.
Hunter is due to be sentenced in Delaware for his gun crimes on November 13, eight days after the presidential election.
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