White House addresses Hunter Biden’s guilty plea.

The White House Responds to Hunter Biden’s Guilty Plea

The White House has issued a response to President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s guilty plea to federal crimes.

“The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams told The Epoch Times in an email. “We will have no further comment.”

Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to intentionally failing to pay federal income tax, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a letter to the U.S. court in Delaware.

The law in question prohibits the willful failure to pay taxes or file tax returns.

Hunter Biden also struck a deal with prosecutors relating to a felony gun charge.

His attorney, Christopher Clark, said in a statement to media outlets that “Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement.”

Clark clarified that the firearms charge is not part of the plea agreement but will instead be subject to a separate pretrial diversion agreement.

Under a pretrial diversion agreement, defendants could get charges dismissed or face lighter punishment if they meet certain criteria.

A memorandum detailing the terms of the plea deal “will be submitted at or in advance of the hearing,” which is expected in the coming days, per Weiss’ letter.

The plea deal must still be approved by a federal judge.

Each of the two tax charges carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison while the gun charge carries up to 10 years behind bars.

Unconfirmed reports citing anonymous sources say that prosecutors will likely recommend probation instead of jail time on the tax charges.

‘I Trust Him’

In the weeks leading up to Hunter Biden’s plea deal, rumors swirled that the president’s son would soon face charges.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware has been investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs. The president’s son said in 2020 that he was taking the investigation “seriously” but was confident of a favorable outcome.

“I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Hunter Biden said in a statement issued by the Biden-Harris transition team in December 2020.

At the time, the transition team issued a statement describing the president-elect as “deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges” from which he has emerged “stronger.”

Hunter Biden had acknowledged in the past that he made mistakes, but insisted that he hadn’t committed any crimes.

Several weeks ago, the president was asked during an interview on MSNBC what impact there would be on the Biden presidency if Hunter Biden were to be federally charged.

“It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him,” Biden said in the interview.

He also expressed confidence that his son had “done nothing wrong.”

Details of Charges

Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of failing to file and pay federal income taxes on time in 2017 and 2018.

He received more than $1.5 million in taxable income in 2017 and more than $1.5 million more in 2018, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

He was legally required to pay more than $100,000 in income tax for his earnings each of those years but he “did willfully fail” to pay the tax.

Both counts are misdemeanors with a possible penalty of up to one year in prison for each.

No court dates have been scheduled as of yet, according to the court docket.

Hunter Biden also faces a separate charge for buying a handgun illegally in 2018.

An indictment states that Hunter Biden, in 2018, “knowing that he was