
Hunter Biden put a statement out last week about why he decided to plead guilty to the federal tax charges against him, explaining that it was to “spare” any more public humiliation falling upon his family from his actions.
The son of President Joe Biden pleaded guilty to nine tax charges on Thursday, Sept. 5, and subsequently released a statement to the public about his decision. Hunter Biden said when he initially went to trial in his home state of Delaware, he did not realize “the anguish it would cause” his family and that he did not wish to put them through that again.
Hunter Biden said the prosecutors were not focused “on justice” but instead on “dehumanizing” him for his actions during his addiction, making it clear there was only “one path left” to spare his family anymore “pain,” “invasions of privacy,” and “needless embarrassment,” which he said he has “put them through over the years.”
The president’s son said that his crime was one “millions of Americans” have committed, and that was failing to pay taxes on time, for which he said he is responsible. He added that addiction was “not an excuse” but “an explanation” for some of his personal failures related to the case. Hunter Biden said he “wasn’t thinking about” taxes while addicted, but “about surviving,” yet he doesn’t believe the jury would “have heard that” or to care that he “paid every penny” back to the IRS while being sober for over five years.
Hunter Biden credited the “love and support” of his family for his improvement and sobriety, for which he said he could never repay them. He documented that period of his life in a recent memoir titled “Beautiful Things.” Hunter Biden concluded his statement by appealing to others “going through the scourge of addiction” and told them to keep going, and that a light was “at the end of that seemingly endless tunnel.”
Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, also released a statement about the guilty plea and said it was to “prevent a show trial,” which they believe would not have accurately told the story or “served any justice.”