Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, pleaded not guilty to tax charges on Wednesday, after a federal judge in Delaware said she needed more time to review a proposed deal with federal prosecutors to avoid a felony gun charge.
Biden’s plea came after what was expected to be a routine hearing turned into a three-hour affair featuring hushed negotiations between lawyers and pointed questions from the US district court judge, Maryellen Noreika.
“I cannot accept the plea agreement today,” the Trump appointee said, asking the parties to brief her on why she should accept it.
Biden’s lawyers and prosecutors may yet persuade Noreika to approve the deal as it was first negotiated, or to alter it to a form she can accept.
But the news also means the saga will drag on even as Joe Biden campaigns for re-election in 2024, in a possible rematch with Donald Trump, who faces his own extensive legal woes.
Hunter Biden was accused of failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5m in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000. He is charged in a separate case with unlawfully owning a firearm while addicted to and using a controlled substance.
Biden has worked as a lobbyist, lawyer, banker, consultant and artist. He has long admitted struggling with addiction, particularly since the death in 2015 of his brother Beau Biden, a former attorney general of Delaware, the state Joe Biden represented as a senator for 35 years.
Hunter Biden published a confessional memoir, Beautiful Things, in 2021. It was followed by a similar volume, If We Break, written by his ex-wife, Katherine Buhle Biden.
On Wednesday, as reported by the New York Times, Hunter Biden told Judge Noreika he first sought treatment for alcohol addiction in 2003 and eventually sought treatment for drug addiction too. He had not been in treatment since late 2018, he said.
Such struggles have been painful for the Biden family. At the White House on Wednesday, the press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said the president supported his son, adding: “Hunter Biden is a private citizen and this was a personal matter for him.”
Nonetheless, Hunter Biden’s personal struggles have added political fuel to Republican claims that he has leveraged his father’s political power for gain in dealings in Ukraine and China.
Investigations led by David Weiss, the US attorney for Delaware, a Trump appointee, have not turned up any evidence to support such claims. Nonetheless, in June, news of Hunter Biden’s plea deal sparked accusations of favorable treatment.
Republicans are seeking revenge for two impeachments of Trump; weapons to fire in response to what they claim to be political prosecutions of the former president; and material with which to paint Joe Biden as inherently corrupt as an election looms.
Trump’s first impeachment concerned attempts to gain from Ukraine political dirt on rivals including the Bidens. Hunter Biden’s relationship with a Ukrainian company, Burisma, and any links between that relationship and his father, remains at the heart of Republican speculation, allegations and invective.
Earlier this week, Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, told Fox News investigations centered on Hunter Biden were “rising to the level of impeachment inquiry” against his father.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McCarthy said: “All I’m saying is … where’s the truth? You’ve got to get to the bottom of the truth. And the only way Congress can do that is go to impeachment inquiry that gives Republicans and Democrats the ability to get all the information.”
Last month, Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said: “I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
