What is an Alford plea? Hunter Biden's rejected tax trial decision explained

Hunter Biden stood in federal court and pleaded guilty to nine tax crimes including three felonies on Thursday.

Judge Mark Scarsi told Hunter he could face up to 15 years in prison and $1 million in fines once convicted of the three felonies and six misdemeanors, which include lying on his tax returns and deliberately not paying the IRS.

The tax cheat First Son’s lawyers abandoned their technical arguments attempting to have him make the plea while still maintaining his innocence, called an ‘Alford plea’ and instead agreed to have Hunter make a standard guilty plea.

The change was made after a fiery exchange between the government and defense lawyers.

Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell claimed the government was trying to ‘exact more than a pound of flesh but also a drop of blood’.

Prosecutor Leo Wise said the suggestion was ‘offensive’, that ‘he’s the one that triggered these effects’, and that regarding Hunter’s tax crimes, ‘the truth matters’, asking that it be made clear Hunter was agreeing he did commit all the crimes he is charged with.

After dropping his ‘Alford plea’ attempt, Judge Mark Scarsi had Wise read out the indictment to put all of the allegations against Hunter on the record.

The indictment includes details of Hunter’s shady overseas deals with Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu who has been convicted of bribery, and with Chinese oil giant CEFC, which has been linked to a Chinese government influence operation.

It also described how Hunter paid prostitutes and drug dealers, and spent on a lavish life, rather than paying his taxes.

He also lied in order to deduct some of those illicit expenses as business costs on his tax returns, which is a felony.

Prosecutors said they are dead against Hunter Biden entering a guilty plea while still maintaining his innocence.

‘I want to make something crystal clear: the United States opposes an Alford plea,’ Department of Justice attorney Leo Wise told Judge Scarsi.

‘Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty. He is not allowed special terms.’

Lowell argued that under court rules, the judge has no choice but to accept Hunter’s guilty plea – even though he is maintaining his innocence at the same time.

But Scarsi disagreed, telling Hunter’s lawyer: ‘I don’t agree that the court must accept an Alford plea’.

The judge suggested that prosecutors could file a ‘proffer’, which lists all the facts they would have proven at trial.

Then Hunter could plead guilty, without going into detail about which facts he agreed were true or not.

Lowell told the judge that all Hunter would be doing, by pleading guilty, is agreeing the prosecution has enough evidence to convince a jury of his guilt beyond reasonable doubt at trial – without agreeing to all the facts the government claims. 

Wise said allowing Hunter to plead guilty while maintaining his innocence would be ‘an injustice’ and ‘contrary to the rule of law’.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Kamala Harris' lead against Donald Trump is shrinking, according to a new Emerson College poll.

In the August polling, the vice president was ahead by 4 points with 50 percent shupport to Trump's 46 percent.

But a month later in the September survey, the gap narrowed with Harris now only ahead by 2 points – 49 percent to 47 percent.

It comes with just five days left until the first head-to-head debate between the vice president and former president.

There is no presidential pardon in the offing for Hunter Biden even after his lawyer announced he would change his plea to guilty for some of the tax charges against him, the White House said.

‘It’s no. It’s still no,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Wisconsin shortly after lawyer Abbe Lowell announced the sudden turn of events in court in Los Angeles.

‘I can say that it is still very much a no to questions I’ve gotten about if the president’s going to pardon his son,’ Jean-Pierre said, when pressed on whether the coming guilty plea changes the situation. Nor did she leave wiggle room on a potential commutation of any sentence. ‘That’s also no,’ she said.

She wouldn’t expand beyond her comments when asked if Hunter’s sudden change of plea had anything to do with Biden no longer being a candidate for reelection. Biden himself said he wouldn't pardon Hunter following his conviction on gun charges, saying 'I will abide by the jury's decision.'

From Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

Congress is stepping in after a viral video showed Amazon's Alexa smart speaker giving users reasons to vote for Kamala Harris and not any for Donald Trump.

The viral video prompted widespread criticism from figures on the right who called the device's apparent preferences 'election interference.'

An Amazon spokesperson said Alexa's glowing reviews of Harris were an 'error' that the company 'fixed quickly,' but that has not satisfied Republican lawmakers, especially one that is now charging that the company meddling with the election.

'The purpose of this letter is to put you on notice that I will not allow this to go unaddressed, and expect a prompt reply as to what happened here and what corrective actions will be taken in the future,' Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Thursday.

Lawyers for Donald Trump argued in court Thursday that a ruling that Trump's communications with former Vice President Mike Pence around January 6 should be found to be immune and would 'crater' the new indictment against him.

They told a federal judge the Trump-Pence talks about the vice president's role could unravel the government's entire case against the former president – with the November election once again looming over timing decisions in the blockbuster case.

'If in fact the communications with Vice President Pence – which are all over this indictment … if in fact these are immune, then that entire indictment is improper,' Trump lawyer John Lauro told Judge Tanya Chutkan at a hearing Thursday.

'If your honor decides that that is immune, then the whole indictment craters,' he said.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

The Daily Mail is today unveiling its 2024 election model, which gives our deepest look yet at who we think will win the battle between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

With two months to go to decision day, it predicts that we are headed for a political cliffhanger with the final result coming down to just 20,500 votes in Pennsylvania.

And it is Trump, the former president, who is on course to edge it, securing wins in the crucial battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania, the most crucial of all.

Harris is predicted to win Wisconsin and Michigan, giving Trump an electoral college margin of 287 to 251.

But even that close result is balanced on a knife edge. The model crunches data from the past 80 years, including election results, polls and economic statistics, to find that Trump's probability of victory is only 50.5 percent.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

Kamala Harris took a selfie with Senator Jon Fetterman when she arrived in Pennsylvania on Thursday.

She was greeted by the Democratric senator and his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman.

Harris hugged each of them on the tarmac of the airport.

She will spend the next five days in Pittsburgh, where she will be locked in debate prep ahead of her September 10th showdown with Donald Trump.

Harris will also step out to do some campaigning in the battleground state over the next few days.

The debate, hosted by ABC News, will take place in Philadelphia at 9 pm ET on Tuesday, September 10th.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

Donald Trump unveiled a new plank of his economic policy in New York, following through on his longstanding admiration for sovereign wealth funds run by other nations.

When we do all of this, we will be so successful, we'll create America's own sovereign wealth fund to invest in great national endeavors for the benefit of all of the American people. Why don't we have a wealth fund? Other countries have wealth funds. We have nothing. We have nothing.

The reason is well known, if fact. The U.S. has run a budget deficit for the past century. There is no spare cash to set aside for investing. But Trump wants to utilize money raised through his tariffs on imports.

We'll put tremendous amounts of money through all this money that will take be taken in through tariffs and other intelligent things, and we'll have the greatest sovereign wealth fund of them all.

He would use it to invest in infrastructure and other cutting edge policies, he said during his speech to the New York Economic Club on Thursday.

We will build extraordinary national development projects and everything from highways to airports and to transportation infrastructure. We'll be able to invest in state of the art manufacturing hubs, advanced defense capabilities, cutting edge medical research and help save billions in preventing disease in the first place.

In short, an Alford Plea deal is a plea option permitted in some states that allows for sentencing of a defendant while they maintain their innocence.

Usually, this plea is used when a defendant decides it would be better to take a known sentence than take chances at criminal trial where they could face the maximum sentence.

If using the Alford Plea deal, the defendant will still hold a criminal record in a conviction and the criminal consequences are the same as pleading guilty or no contest.

The main difference is that the Alford Plea could benefit the defense case in general because of maintaining innocence.

President Joe Biden's so Hunter is using this plea in his California federal tax evasion case.

Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzalez thinks the GOP will lose control of the House of Representatives in the November election.

The conservative made the shocking remarks at the Texas Tribune Festival on Thursday.

'What is frustrating me is I firmly believe that House Republicans are going to lose the majority, and we're going to lose it because of ourselves,' Gonzalez said.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's mother is a lifelong Democrat who wants to see her son and Vice President Kamala Harris win in November.

Darlene Walz opened up about the public rift between her sons after Jeff Walz, 67, posted on Facebook that his younger brother is 'not the type of character you want making decisions about your future.'

The mother said that her main goal is to 'keep the peace' between all the relatives.

'I think the best thing maybe, for me, is to just stay out of it,' she said.

She also explained an image that emerged of family members in Nebraska voicing their support for Donald Trump are 'mostly second counsins' related through her late husband James.

President Joe Biden didn't respond to questions about son Hunter's change of plea in his federal tax fraud trial as he boarded Air Force One on Thursday.

The 81-year-old waved at reporters but didn't acknowledge queries about the dramatic twist in his family's legal dramas.

Hunter is set to plead guilty to some of nine federal charges. He's accused of evading $1.4million in taxes and faces a maximum of up to 17 years in prison.

The president is on his way to Wisconsin to tout new clean energy investments in rural America.

A popular Fox News personality who for years had his own show is reportedly considering a bid for California governor.

Steve Hilton, 55, the ex-host of Fox News' 'The Next Revolution' is mulling a run for the California executive position, several people familiar with the matter have told Politico.

Having had a show on Fox News from 2017 - 2023 and now appearing frequently as a contributor, Hilton has raised his profile significantly in the U.S. since serving as an advisor to former British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 - 2012.

The London-born former advisor has more recently taken up a residency in the ritzy San Francisco Peninsula - where venture capitalists and NBA superstars like Steph Curry live.

And since the longtime political commentator got his citizenship in 2021, the timing may be just right for him to run after Newsom terms-out in 2026.

In court Lowell told Judge Scarsi that Hunter would be taking an ‘Alford plea’, meaning he would accept a guilty verdict while maintaining his innocence.

Lowell also told the judge that they had previously never accepted a plea deal, because the only offer the government made was to plead guilty to all charges.

His statement may suggest that Hunter is now deciding to plead guilty to only some of his charges.

The stunning revelation was made by Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell in front of the judge, while 120 potential jurors waited next door to be selected for his trial.

The change was not due to a plea deal, and prosecutor Leo Wise told Judge Mark Scarsi ‘this is the first we’re hearing of this’.

Lowell cited legal cases and precedents suggesting that by pleading guilty, the judge would have to decide on the facts of the case rather than a jury, and the judge could only use material that has already been filed in the case.

Wise said he needed time to review the legal case Lowell cited, and the judge allowed them to take a break until 11am.

The shocking u-turn may is an apparent hail mary strategy by the defense to try to stop damaging and embarrassing evidence being presented to the jury.

Hunter Biden has changed his plea to guilty in a dramatic twist in his federal tax evasion trial in California.

It is unclear whether he came to a plea deal with prosecutors.

The president's scandal-hit son could face a jail term, and the maximum sentence for the charges is up to 17 years in prison.

Hunter’s lawyers did not clarify whether he was pleading guilty to all nine charges including three felonies, or just some of them.

‘We’ll have to wait and see what they do,’ Hunter’s attorney Mark Geragos told DailyMail.com outside the courtroom.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

The Biden administration admitted on Thursday that it is frustrated with the cease-fire talks in the Middle East but re-iterated that all parties are on a ‘verge of a deal.’

'I will just say that this process has at times been cumbersome,’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on a zoom briefing with reporters. ‘We have faced setbacks and setbacks and more setbacks, and without question, we here at the administration are frustrated that we still haven't been able to conclude this deal.'

He added that negotiators are at ‘90%’ in the talks and on the ‘verge of a deal.’

‘You call that optimistic. I call that accurate. That's how close we believe we are,’ he said.

One remaining stumbling block is how many people each side would set free. The other is how quickly, Israel would withdraw its troops from the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of Gaza along the Egyptian border.

The killing of six hostages over the weekend – including an Israeli-American – also complicated talks.

‘The basic framework of the deal has been agreed to. What we're talking about now is the implementing details, and specifically the exchange of prisoners. And now that calculus is different because of what happened over the weekend,’ Kirby said.

Melania Trump teased her bombshell tell-all memoir with a dramatic black-and-white video, saying it was time to tell her perspective: 'the truth.'

Her book, simply titled 'Melania,' will be released on October 1st. It is available for pre-order on Amazon for $30.

'Writing this memoir has been a deeply personal and reflective journey for me,' she said in a video posted to her social media accounts.

The former first lady has been the subject of many biographies and books but this is the first time she is telling her story.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

The White House had sharp words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he wanted Kamala Harris to win the next election, favoring her over Donald Trump.

‘Mr. Putin needs to stop talking about our elections period,’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

‘He shouldn't be favoring anybody one way or another. The only people who should get to determine who the next president of the United States is the American people. And we would greatly appreciate it if Mr. Putin would A) stop talking about our election and B) stop interfering in it,’ Kirby said on a zoom briefing with reporters.

Putin cited Harris’ ‘infectious’ laugh as a reason to prefer her over Trump.

‘She laughs so expressively and infectiously that it means that everything is fine with her,’ he said.

He made his endorsement a day after the U.S. Justice Department charged two Russian media executives over an alleged scheme to influence the November election.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied meddling in U.S. elections. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russia wants Trump in the White House because he is less committed to supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Lawyers for Donald Trump are back in federal court in Washington, D.C. Thursday for his January 6 case.

It is their first status conference since the Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling on presidential immunity.

‘Good morning – it’s been almost a year, you look rested, Mr. Lauro,’ Judge Tanya Chutkan told the Trump lawyer at the start of her hearing.

‘Life was almost meaningless without seeing you,’ Lauro joked. ‘Enjoy it while it lasts,’ Chutkan warned him. Trump is not present for the hearing, having waived his right and entered a not guilty plea to a new superseding indictment. The two sides are discussing the contours of a schedule that could drag well into 2025. Chutkan says she will issues a schedule decision later today.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Portsmouth, NH:

When Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage in North Hampton, New Hampshire on Wednesday, it was a picturesque campaign scene with a white barn under a clear blue sky, American flags and cheering supporters.

But with just over sixty days to go before Election Day, it was not exactly clear why Harris had chosen to come to the New England state.

The Granite State has not been among the seven battlegrounds both campaigns have been spending tens of millions of dollars in on advertising. And neither nominee had frequented it recently.

The stop in the state marked Harris' first visit there since 2021. Her rival Donald Trump was last in New Hampshire for the Republican primary in January.

But there was the vice president on a sunny afternoon hitting the stump and stopping by a local pretzel business. And Democrats there were relieved.

The state has been deeply purple in the past and has a Republican governor, begging the question: is New Hampshire a presidential battleground in 2024?

'If Biden had still been the nominee, then this would be a much more competitive,' said University of New Hampshire political science professor Andrew Smith.

Harris leads Trump by seven points, but New Hampshire voters said they appreciate the state not being taken for granted.

'We're purplish,' said  39-year-old mother of four Allison O'Brien from Auburn, New Hampshire. 'When President Biden stepped down I was wondering if we would be one of the places, so I'm very excited that she decide to make this quick stop.'

A smirking Vladimir Putin said Thursday he supported Kamala Harris in the upcoming US presidential election just a day after Washington accused Moscow of tampering with the vote.

'Firstly, (US President Joe) Biden recommended all his supporters support Mrs Harris,' Putin said during a question and answer session at Russia's Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

'Here, we are going to do that too, we're going to support her,' he added, with a wry smile.

'She laughs so contagiously that it shows that everything is fine with her,' the Russian leader said, as members of the public laughed.

'(Former US President Donald) Trump has imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before, and if Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from such actions.'

Former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris among veterans a new poll finds just days after the candidates clashed over the ex-president's incident at Arlington National Cemetery last month.

The survey conducted by Change Research and released to The Hill found the Republican presidential nominee leads his Democratic rival 51 percent to 41 percent among veterans.

It also found Trump leads Harris 49 percent to 44 percent among active duty, guardsmen and reservists with just over sixty days to go before the election.

When it comes to the families of veterans, the gap was tighter with Trump up 47 percent to Harris' 45 percent.

Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter

Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance ridiculed former Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Vance focused on Cheney’s support for wars in the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

‘This is a person whose entire career has been about sending other peoples’ children to fight and die for her military conflicts and her ridiculous ideas that somehow we were going to turn Afghanistan into a thriving liberal democracy and for that, Liz Cheney was willing to kill thousands of your children,’ Vance said, referring to the casualties in the wars that began during her father Dick Cheney’s vice presidency during the George W. Bush administration.

Vance reacted to Cheney’s endorsement during a Turning Point USA rally in Arizona, speaking to Charlie Kirk. He lumped both Harris and Cheney as part of the political establishment who supported wars overseas.

‘Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney make interesting partners,’ he said. ‘They get rich when America’s sons and daughters go off to die. They get rich when America loses wars instead of wins war.’

Cheney voiced her opinion about the 2024 presidential race during an event at Duke University on Wednesday, arguing that as a constitutional conservative she

would support Harris, rather than Trump. She argued Trump posed a ‘danger’ to the United States.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump's speech outlining his economic proposals on Thursday will include recommendations from billionaire Elon Musk.

The policies would introduce even more aggressive slashing of regulations than Trump implemented during his first White House term and woud likely dramatically rescind unspent funds that President Joe Biden's administration appropriated.

Musk is recommending the federal government create a government efficiency commission to conduct “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government” and make “recommendations for drastic reform."

Trump's economic platform outline will come during remarks to the Economic Club of New York on Thursday afternoon.

'I can’t wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go,' Musk tweeted this week amid speculation of his role in Trump's economic policies.

Trump has an advantage over Vice President Kamala Harris among voters who think the former president would better handle the economy and inflation crisis.

Donald Trump sparked a wild theory about his upcoming debate with Kamala Harris by claiming that ABC News will help the vice president cheat.

The former president was speaking during a town hall on Fox News Wednesday, when he predicted that the Disney-owned television network would provide Harris with questions for the debate ahead of their showdown.

'They're going to get the questions, I've already heard they're going to get the questions in advance,' Trump told Fox host Sean Hannity in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 'I'm not sure it's gonna help her that much.'

Trump and Harris are set for their first debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 10 with ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis.

Trump said he only agreed to the debate at the 'unfair' network because the vice president wouldn't agree to any others.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Hunter Biden’s criminal tax trial starts today in California.

Jury selection for the case involving President Joe Biden’s son stems from special counsel David Weiss’ yearslong investigation charged the first son with three felonies and six misdemeanors.

The allegations, which Hunter pleaded not guilty to, include that the 54-year-old first son owed $1.4 million in taxes, which has since been paid.

Weiss says in the incident that Hunter 'engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019… and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.'

The case will kickoff at the United States District Court for the Central District of California and is presided over by Judge Mark Scarsi.

Hunter Biden departs federal court in Wilimington, Delaware on June 11, 2024 in another case related to an illegal firearms purchase

Historian Allan Lichtman has finally revealed his prediction for the 2024 election winner, after determining that Kamala Harris has met the critical objectives for victory.

The American University professor, 77, has fashioned his own election model that has correctly forecast every presidential winner since 1984.

He relies on an unorthodox system - ignoring the polls and pundits - based on what he calls '13 keys' to the White House, a model he developed in 1981 alongside his geophysicist friend Vladimir Keilis-Borok.

The model is based on 120 years of presidential election outcomes and even enabled Allan to call Trump's unexpected 2016 victory a month before the election.

He then used his tactic to correctly predict the outcome in the 2020 elections.