Hunter Biden offers to plead guilty to tax charges in unusual legal move

Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, offered on Thursday to plead guilty to federal tax charges but avoid admitting any wrongdoing, in an unusual legal manoeuvre that federal prosecutors quickly opposed.

It was not immediately clear whether the judge overseeing the case would accept the offer or move ahead with a trial that could air embarrassing details of the younger Biden’s life shortly before the November 5 presidential election.

He had previously pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, which accuses him of failing to pay US$1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items.

He was charged in December as part of a wide-ranging probe of his finances and business dealings, becoming the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal charges.

In the Los Angeles federal court where his trial was due to take place, Biden sought to enter what is known as an “Alford plea”, an unusual type of guilty plea where a defendant does not admit to the allegations against them.