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From Fox News: First son Hunter Biden released a statement Thursday after he pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, saying he did so to “spare” his family from being “publicly humiliated” by a trial.
“I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again,” Biden said. “When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one path left for me.”
“I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty,” he added.
“Like millions of Americans, I failed to file and pay my taxes on time. For that I am responsible. As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case. When I was addicted, I wasn’t thinking about my taxes, I was thinking about surviving,” Biden continued.
His statement continues:
“But the jury would never have heard that or know that I had paid every penny of my back taxes including penalties.I have been clean and sober for more than five years now because I have had the love and support of my family. I can never repay them for showing up for me and helping me through my worst moments. But I can protect them from being publicly humiliated for my failures.
“For anyone now going through the scourge of addiction, please know there is a light at the end of that seemingly endless tunnel. I was where you are now. Don’t quit right before the miracle.”
Hunter Biden has released this statement:
“I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again. When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my… pic.twitter.com/j7igcA1fFv
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 5, 2024
According to the indictment, Hunter Biden “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.”
The trial was expected to include embarrassing and salacious testimony about Hunter Biden’s drug use and lavish spending, including $1.6 million in ATM withdrawals, $683,000 on “various women” and $188,000 on “adult entertainment.”
The indictment says Hunter spent the money “on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.”
Prosecutors said that in the tax returns Hunter did eventually file, he falsely claimed that money he spent on an escort, a strip club, a sex club membership fee, a pornographic website and his daughter’s college tuition and rent was all “business expense.”
His sentencing date is scheduled for December 16. Until then, he remains free on bond.
The Justice Department posted the following in a press release on Thursday:
Robert Hunter Biden (Hunter Biden) pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles this afternoon to all counts in a nine-count indictment, including three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses. There was no plea agreement.
Judge Scarsi accepted the defendant’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for December 16, 2024.
According to the indictment, Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme in which he chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns. As alleged in the indictment, to further this scheme, Hunter Biden:
- subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company by withdrawing millions outside of the payroll and tax withholding process;
- spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills;
- in 2018, stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015;
- willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes;
- willfully failed to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns, on time; and
- when he did finally file his 2018 returns, included false business deductions in order to reduce the very substantial tax liability he faced as of February 2020.
At sentencing, Hunter Biden faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Court documents and information for this case is located on the website of the District Court for the Central District of California or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-00599.
‘ONLY ONE PATH’: Hunter Biden is speaking out about why he pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, saying he will not put his family through “anguish” again. His full statement: https://t.co/sqZNAO2loI pic.twitter.com/y6IHxj2htL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 6, 2024
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