Did Hunter Biden get off easy with his plea deal on tax and gun charges? Some say yes, others no, but predictably, the perception falls along partisan lines.
“Republicans are bashing the agreement – which allows Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and avoid prison on a felony gun charge if he stays out of trouble – as an outrageous sweetheart deal. But independent legal experts say the truth is more complicated,” Politico reported.
What Are Tax Experts Saying?
Expert opinion covers a wide spectrum from too lenient to too harsh.
In a conversation with Politico, two former IRS attorneys said the deal Biden received was not unusual, and was in fact similar to what a “normal” citizen could expect under similar circumstances.
Two other former tax officials said that Biden could have faced stiffer charges.
Still, another former IRS attorney said that it’s unusual for citizens to face criminal charges at all only for failing to pay their taxes.
“I’ve only seen them – one time – prosecute someone for failure to pay taxes,” Maggie Abdo-Gomez, formerly of the IRS, said. “Because the truth is, if we prosecuted for failure to pay taxes, the jails would be full. Forget the drug dealers and the murderers and everybody else. I have a small practice, and I’ve got tons of people that owe taxes.”
Abdo-Gomez added that “the laws were enforced as if it had been anybody else. I would say probably a little stricter, because failure to pay is very common.”
Caroline Ciraolo, formerly the acting head of the DOJ’s Tax Division, didn’t think the Biden plea deal was unusual. Ciraolo believed that had the DOJ found evidence that Biden “lied or took other ‘affirmative acts’ to dodge his taxes, he likely would have faced tougher charges,” Politico reported.
“If there was evidence of affirmative conduct, then under DOJ policy the charge would have been felony evasion of payment,” Ciraolo said. “And that’s not the case here. And after five years and an investigation that crossed two administrations on different sides of the aisle, I would imagine that if there was evidence of affirmative conduct, we would not be looking at the information we’re looking at right now.”
Still, others felt the plea deal was too lenient.
Kathy Enstrom, who has two decades of IRS criminal investigation experience, said Biden could have faced a tougher penalty. She said that usually, IRS Criminal Investigation agents in cases like this one recommend felony charges.
“This is a little bit unique in terms of how they’re utilizing the 7203 misdemeanor charge. I just haven’t seen that too often, mostly because the agents of IRS CI work the most egregious cases, and when they move forward with investigations, they’re looking toward a felony conviction, not necessarily something less than that. The resources of IRS CI are very limited and so that’s their main goal, ultimately — a felony conviction.”
Mark Milton, formerly an attorney in the DOJ’s Tax Division, also believed misdemeanor charges were unusual. “In my experience, prosecutors want felonies in tax cases,” Milton said. “The fact that he’s only pleading guilty to misdemeanors suggests special treatment.”
Clearly, different individuals, all with direct experience in tax enforcement, have starkly different conceptions of what the Biden plea deal means. The discrepant analyses will only serve to heighten partisan tension.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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