Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges on Thursday, Sept. 5 in a surprising move just before his criminal trial in Los Angeles was set to begin, stating he wanted to spare his family from “needless embarrassment.”
President Joe Biden’s son was accused of three felonies and six misdemeanors for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019. However, prosecutors said he was spending millions on an “extravagant lifestyle” with escorts, drugs and luxury hotels.
Hunter Biden, 54, pleaded guilty to all counts after prosecutors objected to his attempt to enter an Alford plea, where he would maintain that he was innocent but acknowledge that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
Hunter Biden will be sentenced on Dec. 16, 2024, and will face up to 17 years in prison for tax offenses.
Hunter Biden has been under investigation for six years for his struggles with drug addictions and business activities with international companies. Hunter Biden was also found guilty of three felonies in a federal gun trial in Delaware in June 2024.
The charges for the gun and tax cases arose from Hunter Biden’s time struggling with substance abuse before he became sober in 2019. In a statement earlier this month, he claimed that he paid his back taxes and penalties.
Zelda Zerkel-Morris, a DePaul alumna who majored in history, has been following the Hunter Biden case intermittently. She said she hopes Hunter Biden can receive the help he needs for his substance use.
“I feel bad for him and his struggles with substance abuse,“ Zerkel-Morris said, “I’m sure it must be hard to be going through that while your dad is president.”
As Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in July, the stakes lowered for his son as he faced trial.
Malia Bowers, a political science professor at DePaul, said she does not think Hunter Biden’s guilty plea will affect the upcoming presidential election. However, the trials have shown Joe Biden as a supportive father.
“What the whole saga would have the potential to do for (Joe) Biden is … humanize him to make him more relatable in a country where a lot of people have a family member who struggles with addiction,” Bowers said.
Lily Fisher, an anthropology student at DePaul, said she was not surprised that Joe Biden and his family have come across legal troubles.
“Now that he is no longer the primary candidate and Kamala is running, I don’t think it’ll have that much of an effect,” Fisher said. “As far as we know, (Joe) Biden’s not going to be in her cabinet or playing a part in policies at all.”
Bowers said both Democrats and Republicans are using the justice system as a political tactic.
“The prosecution of Trump and then the prosecution of a sitting president’s child does point to using the justice system as a political strategy being something that we’ll probably continue to see as we move forward,” Bowers said.
Republicans in the House of Representatives attempted to use Hunter Biden’s legal woes as leverage to impeach his father earlier this year. However, there has been no evidence of misconduct by Joe Biden during his terms in public office.
As Harris took over as the Democratic nominee for president, many voters were hoping for a change from Joe Biden, but according to a poll from the New York Times and Siena College, only 25% of voters believe Harris represented a change.
Zerkel-Morris said she thinks the trials could still affect the presidential election.
“I think a lot of people still associate Kamala Harris with the Biden family since she was his vice president,” Zerkel-Morris said. “I think that the right wing will probably use the events of the trial to try and make the Harris campaign look bad.”
Since Joe Biden ended his bid for reelection, Harris’ campaign has been in the forefront and Bowers said the right-wing will try to paint Harris as a continuation of the Biden administration.
This was seen as recently as in the presidential debate on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Former President Trump stated that “she is Biden,” and that Joe Biden and Harris have the same policies.
Fisher said the outcome of the trials will not change her vote and she will be turning her attention to women’s rights and the candidates’ proposed policies leading up to the presidential election.
“I think it’s important to have your policies affect people in a way that shows that you care about them and problems that they have on a day-to-day basis,” Fisher said.
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