Hunter Biden pleads guilty in federal tax crimes case in Los Angeles
Hunter Biden pleads guilty in federal tax crimes case in Los Angeles
The president's son was at the courthouse for jury selection in what was to be his second federal criminal trial in three months. Also, I've got an update on the YSL trial.
I didn’t plan to cover much of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s federal criminal tax trial in Los Angeles, but when I heard he tried to enter an Alford plea Thursday morning during the beginning of jury selection, I had to go to court and see what was going on.
I’m glad I did. It was an interesting few hours that began for me at 11 a.m. with prosecutors telling U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi they would not accept an Alford plea, which involves a defendant not admitting guilt but admitting enough evidence exists for a jury to find guilt.
Senior Assistant Special Counsel Leo Wise said he wanted to make it “crystal clear” that prosecutors opposed an Alford because “Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty. And he’s not allowed to plead guilty on special terms that only apply to him.” Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell took issue with Wise saying an Alford plea would somehow be special only to Biden.
“I know it makes a headline,” Lowell told Judge Scarsi, but “it’s just so wrong” that he had to start by addressing it.
Potential jurors already were at the courthouse, and Scarsi said he was going to have them return Friday, when he’d hear argument from attorneys and decide whether to accept Biden’s Alford plea over the objection of prosecutors.
However, Lowell asked for 30 minutes to consider Scarsi’s request, then when court reconvened told the judge Biden now wanted to enter an “open plea,” which involves a defendant pleading guilty to charges without any agreement in place with prosecutors. Such agreements can involve dismissed charges and recommendations for reduced sentencing.
Lowell referenced Scarsi’s comments about the public interest and said Biden “needs to address the private interest,” including the fact that his family members were to testify in trial. Biden wants to end this so “his family doesn’t have to spend one more day talking about what happened when he was a man addicted to drugs.”
Wise spent about 90 minutes reading the indictment aloud to provide a factual basis for Biden’s plea. During that time, no one in the gallery knew exactly what Biden would do. Would he plead guilty to all nine charges? Or only some?
The last open plea I saw was from disgraced lawyer and former U.S. presidential hopeful Michael Avenatti, who pleaded guilty to five of 36 charges in his California client fraud case in December 2022. Prosecutors didn’t have to dismiss the remaining charges, but they did so after Senior U.S. District Judge James V. Selna sentenced Avenatti to 14 years in prison, to be served consecutive with his other federal prison sentences, because they said the judgment and sentence covered the main elements of his charged offenses.
I’m not sure Wise and his co-counsel, Derek Hines, would be willing to dismiss any of Biden’s charges, but Biden mooted the issue on Thursday by pleading guilty to all nine counts, which are three felonies and six misdemeanors, including failing to file and pay taxes, tax evasion and filing false tax returns.
First, Scarsi asked him if the indictment read aloud by Wise provided a factual basis for his plea, and Biden answered yes. Scarsi also told Biden his maximum punishment, which includes 17 years in prison, though the sentences actually imposed for his crimes are typically much shorter.
The judge then read each count and asked Biden his plea, and Biden answered “guilty” each time.
Scarsi scheduled sentencing for Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. Prosecutors and Biden’s attorneys are to file briefs before then that detail their recommended sentences.
The 56-page indictment charged Biden with not paying “at least $1.4 million” in self-assessed taxes between 2016 through 2019. It is, as Kyle Cheney of Politico wrote, “a cornucopia of vice — showing the president’s son spending lavishly on sex, drugs, porn, cars and luxury hotels while skipping tax payments.”
Biden left the courthouse about 2:30 p.m. holding hands with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. He did not answer questions, including whether he’s discussed a pardon with his father. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One that the president will not pardon his son, according to The Washington Post.
The press contingency at the courthouse was much thinner on Thursday than it was for Biden’s arraignment in January. Still, there was a healthy crowd outside, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service agents divided us into two sides with a large open space for Biden to walk to a black SUV. My favorite part of the wait was meeting Department of Homeland Security dog Tigi, his name confirmed to me by the federal agent standing next to me.
Lowell told reporters outside the courthouse that Biden pleaded guilty “to protect those he loves from unnecessary hurt and cruel humiliation.”
“This plea prevents that kind of show trial that would have not provided all the facts or served any real point in justice,” Lowell said. “He will now move on with us to the sentencing phase, while keeping open the options to raise the many clear issues with this case on appeal.”
Lowell is a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP in Washington D.C. whose past clients include lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former U.S. Senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, as well as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. He is representing Biden with Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos.
Wise and Hines work under Special Counsel David Weiss, who also secured the gun-related charges against Biden in Delaware. A jury there convicted Biden of three felonies in June.
As assistant U.S. attorneys, Wise and Hines prosecuted public corruption cases together in Baltimore. Wise also helped prosecute the tobacco industry and the Enron executives.
Wise and Hines currently have another prosecution in Los Angeles against former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who’s accused of lying about the Bidens, including a lie that Wise in court said stems from Russian disinformation. The case is with U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II and scheduled for trial in December.
Biden released a statement Thursday afternoon that said, “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.”
Young Thug / YSL trial update
I saw someone on social media say that the Young Thug / YSL racketeering conspiracy trial in Atlanta, Georgia, is like a cinematic universe that regularly gives us new characters. Right now, the new guy is Mounk Tounk, Young Thug’s former head of security.
Legal name Antonio Sledge, Mounk Tounk is testifying pursuant to a plea agreement that’s on paper very damaging to the defendants. In the agreement, Mounk Tounk said he knows that one or more YSL associates killed Donovan “Nut” Thomas on behalf of the Young Slime Life street gang, and that Young Thug gave them money afterward to “lay low” in Miami. He also agreed to testify that YSL is a gang.
Mounk Tounk was charged in the 65-count, 28-defendant indictment with two crimes: felon in possession of a firearm and conspiracy to violate the Georgia racketeering law (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations aka RICO), but he pleaded guilty only to the RICO count, and the gun charge still is pending. His sentence for the RICO conviction was 15 years probation, but prosecutors say they’ll pursue the gun charge if he doesn’t adhere to his plea deal. And so far, his testimony is not at at all what prosecutors hoped.
Mounk Tounk did testify at one point that YSL began as a neighborhood gang, but he’s also consistently testified that YSL under Young Thug is a record label and not a gang.
This happened with every major cooperating witness before Mounk Tounk, but prosecutors apparently expected Mounk Tounk to say all the incriminating stuff they want him to say quickly and efficiently, so, in typical YSL trial fashion, they told the judge his direct-exam would take three hours, and we’re now going into day three.
Court is to reconvene Friday at 8:30 a.m. E.T. / 5:30 a.m. PT. I’ll be streaming on YouTube as always.
Right now, trial watchers are abuzz about the apparent drug overdose death of rapper Rich Homie Quan, who is frequently mentioned in testimony and had been subpoenaed to testify by prosecutors.
Prosecutors have said that Thomas was murdered as part of an ongoing gang feud between him and Young Thug that began with rival record label interest in Quan. The last witness, Kenneth “Woody” Copeland, testified that he and his friend Travonte “Threat” Turner, who was murdered in Atlanta in July, fired shots at a barbershop owned by Quan’s father in 2014.
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The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Quan, legal name Dequantes Devontay Lamar, died at age 33.
At the same time, fellow Atlanta rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris is in Santa Ana with his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, for the third trial in the federal trade secrets lawsuit that pits their daughter Zonnique Pullins’ OMG Girlz music group against MGA Entertainment’s L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Dolls.
I watched the trial on Wednesday and asked T.I. about Young Thug’s case afterward.
“Man, that’s my partner. That’s like really, really, really one of my best partners. ... I hate to see him going through it, but I do believe he’ll prevail,” he said.
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T.I. is on Young Thug's defense witness list, and he told me he’s willing to testify.
“If I need to, I will. I will hate it, but I will for him,” he said.
I’ll be back next week with more on the OMG Girlz trial.
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