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 PDT.
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 lead 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 kicked off in Los Angeles Thursday
In a stunning reversal ahead of jury selection, Hunter’s attorneys revealed he will now be pleading guilty to some of the charges
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 Geragos, Lowell, his friend and attorney Kevin Morris, business partner Fran Person, as well as two other attorneys on his defense team.
A former federal prosecutor, who asked not to be named, told DailyMail.com that one possible explanation for the sudden change, was to get a quick verdict without a salacious trial, followed by a pardon or commutation from Hunter’s father, President Joe Biden.
Biden has already promised that he would do neither – but that was before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
As long as he is president, through January 2025, he has the power to reduce or forgive any sentence his son receives.
The maximum sentence for Hunter’s tax crimes is 17 years in federal prison and a $750,000 fine.
Another attorney, Samuel Dewey, a former congressional chief counsel, told DailyMail.com he also suspected the change of plea was part of a political pact to protect damaging information about Joe Biden from being aired in public.
Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell, pictured arriving at the First Street US Courthouse in LA Thursday, informed the judge of the shock plea reversal as jury selection was set to begin
The president’s son had switched lead counsels ahead of his trial, retaining prominent LA celebrity attorney Mark Geragos in July. He is seen arriving in federal court on Thursday morning
Law enforcement officers and reporters gathered outside the US Courthouse as Hunter arrived at the LA courthouse
‘We know the trial was going to involve detailed evidence of foreign influence peddling that likely would involve the broader Biden family and the President,’ Dewey said.
The attorney was referring to prosecutors’ evidence that Hunter earned $1million from allegedly lobbying US State Department officials on behalf of a Romanian real estate magnate charged with bribery – a scandal first revealed by DailyMail.com two years ago.
‘A plausible theory for why this odd turn happened now, is that Hunter has run out the clock and will not be required to report to prison until after November 4, when he will be pardoned without massive political damage to the Democratic nominee in the 2024 General Election,’ Dewey said.
‘So in effect this might be a ‘fall’ directed by others.’
Lowell seemed to think the case could be wrapped up quickly with this new turn, telling the judge: ‘I think this can be resolved today… It’s not like it’s a very complicated issue.’
‘I will provide both the court and counsel for the government every case that addresses this,’ he added.
Wise told Judge Scarsi: ‘We would appreciate an opportunity to look at the law Mr. Lowell is now mentioning’.
The government attorneys are now spending the next couple of hours researching and coming up with a plan to respond to the shocking reversal by the defense, before the hearing is convened again at 11am.
Hunter is due to be sentenced in Delaware for his gun crimes on November 13, eight days after the presidential election.
The case marks the second high-profile criminal trial this year for Hunter, who faces multiple charges on evading $1.4million in taxes
He was flanked by supportive wife Melissa Cohen, who was also seen at her husband’s side throughout his previous gun trial earlier this year
The president’s scandal-hit son is set to stand his second criminal trial this year – the culmination of his legal trouble that saw the sordid details of his life thrust in the spotlight
If Hunter pleads guilty to all counts in his tax crimes case, his sentencing could be scheduled by the California federal judge before the end of the year.
It would also mean Hunter would avoid a trial that was set to air his years of drug-fueled debauchery and alleged political corruption.
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 headed into the courthouse dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, clasping his wife’s hand.
Among the sordid details of the case that was due to be presented 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.
Hunter, 54, faces the same two federal prosecutors, Wise and Derek Hines, who trounced his hotshot Washington, DC attorney 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 as led counsel for celebrity LA lawyer Geragos – 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.
Criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos had represented singer 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 was pictured alongside his lawyer Abbe Lowell in a court sketch from federal court in January, when he had initially pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges
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 Scarsi was having none of it, ruling that Hunter’s expert, Joshua Lee, would not be allowed to testify.
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 Morris, his wealthy Hollywood attorney.
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.
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
A pool of 100 jurors were to be 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 if a panel i needed. Attorneys were set to kick off the trial with opening statements on Monday.
The trial wass estimated by both sides to last eight days.
Witnesses were 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.
Hunter is due to be sentenced in Delaware for his gun crimes on November 13, eight days after the presidential election.