US election 2024 current: Trump's punishment to be announced only after the election – Politics

US President Hunter Biden has pleaded guilty to several tax offenses in the case against him. US media, including CNN and NBC, reported this in a joint statement outside the court in Los Angeles. The 54-year-old is thus avoiding a trial that was supposed to start on Thursday with the selection of the jury. The sentence will not be announced until later.

Biden had previously pleaded not guilty, and his reversal avoided further details of his business and private life being made public at a trial.

In December, Hunter Biden was charged with several tax offenses. The 54-year-old is accused of failing to properly pay federal taxes for several years. He was accused of spending millions on an extravagant lifestyle instead of paying his tax bills. Hunter Biden only paid his taxes retroactively.

Specifically, it concerns the years 2016 to mid-October 2020 – also until shortly before Joe Biden was elected president. During this time, Hunter Biden accounted for more than seven million US dollars, the indictment said. However, he decided at the time not to pay taxes, but to spend the money on other things: “on drugs, hostesses and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other things of a personal nature, in short: on everything except his taxes.” The clear list of delicate expenses in the indictment, such as sex clubs and “adult entertainment”, caused a great stir.

Hunter Biden has been in the public eye for several years because of legal issues. In another criminal case, he was found guilty of illegal possession of weapons in June. In that case, he was accused of making false statements when purchasing a weapon and concealing his addiction at the time.

The Republicans are using these cases to stir up sentiment against the US president during the election campaign and thereby damage him politically. Joe Biden has always stressed that he does not want to pardon a son or reduce his sentence. The White House spokeswoman emphasized on Thursday before Hunter Biden's guilty plea that this still applies.