Joe Biden’s son Hunter offered to plead guilty in his tax evasion trial on Thursday, as jury selection was about to get under way in a case that has been an embarrassment and a distraction for the US president.
The 54-year-old is accused of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes over the past decade, splurging the money instead on luxury living, sex workers and a drug habit.
A trial had been expected to re-hash sordid details of a life that the defendant and his family — including the president — have long acknowledged had gone off the rails.
But on Thursday morning as US District Judge Mark Scarsi was readying to oversee the selection of a jury, Biden’s lawyers said their client was prepared to plead guilty.
Attorney Abbe Lowell said Biden was willing to enter a guilty plea, although he would continue to maintain his innocence.
A so-called …