Hunter pleads guilty to tax charges

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to tax charges in a last-minute reversal of his previous not guilty plea. The younger Biden was accused of failing to pay taxes on his lucrative business — often foreign — ventures and accepted guilt on all nine charges. There was no deal with prosecutors; Biden will not receive a reduced fine or sentence for his change of hear, instead explaining that he merely wanted to avoid putting his family through additional scrutiny like that of his Delaware gun trial. 

“I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment,” Biden said in a statement.

Biden’s lawyers acknowledged that there was enough evidence to convict him in a trial. They originally tried to enter an Alford plea, which would avoid an admission of guilt, but prosecutors objected, arguing that it would violate the “rule of law.”

The plea ends a long saga for the Biden family, wherein Hunter’s failure to pay his taxes renewed scrutiny in his foreign business dealings and led to a congressional investigation into whether or not then-Vice President Joe Biden knew that his son was leveraging his position in the White House for the family’s financial benefit. IRS whistleblowers claimed that their own investigation into Hunter’s tax failings was hamstrung by government officials who warned them not to pull on any threads that might bring them to the president’s doorstep.

President Biden has repeatedly claimed that he will not pardon his son. His sentencing will take place in December, well after the November election. Hunter is facing up to seventeen years in prison or a fine of up to $1.3 million. He also faces twenty-five years in his federal gun case.

-Amber Duke

On our radar

DANA BASHED CNN anchor Dana Bash, who recently scored the first big interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, saw her book event disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters on Thursday night. “You belong behind bars,” one protester said, accusing Bash, who is Jewish, of being “complicit” in the “genocide.”

DELAY OF GAME Former president Donald Trump’s sentencing in the so-called “hush-money” trial has been delayed until after the election. Judge Juan Merchan set the new sentencing date for November 26. A panel of Appeals Court judges also heard oral arguments Friday in Trump’s attempt to toss a defamation judgment against him related to his alleged assault of writer E. Jean Carroll. 

DIRTY JOBS The US economy marked another month of slow growth as the August jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the economy only added 142,000 jobs, below the predicted 160,000. A recent BLS revision also found that there were more than 800,000 fewer jobs created between April 2023 and March 2024 than previously reported.

USE IT OR LOSE IT Former president Donald Trump vowed to pull back unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act for climate proposals if he wins the presidency in November. President Joe Biden recently admitted in a campaign event that the bill was misnamed because it was meant to address climate change. 

Kamala kash 

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has a staggering $404 million in cash, which is over $100 million more than President Donald Trump has to work with; according to the Hill, “The Trump campaign has $295 million in cash on hand.”

A big chunk of the Harris money poured in in August, a month that saw the veep raise $361 million to President Donald Trump’s $130 million.

“[Harris’s] campaign said she’s raised more than $615 million since she took over the top of the ticket in late July,” reports Politico.

Who’s donating all this money? A lot of teachers and nurses who gave less than $200, the campaign says. “Over 60 percent of donors in August were women, and almost a fifth of donors were registered Republicans or Independents, according to the campaign,” the Hill further reports. 

The Harris money surge is likely to continue. Her campaign is holding a fundraiser dinner next week with actor Matt Damon and Broadway musician Lin-Manuel Miranda at which tickets cost $25,000 per person.

Trump, meanwhile, will be headed west to California, where donors are being asked to pay $500,000 per couple to hang out with Tom and Stacey Siebel, whom the LA Timesnotes are “relatives of the wife of Governor Gavin Newsom.”

–Teresa Mull

Reliable divorces

Oliver Darcy took a career gamble last month, leaving behind CNN and his media-centric “Reliable Sources” newsletter to go independent. The former Blaze writer who defected to liberal media has a new project called “Status,” a paid newsletter. CNN announced they had found someone to take over the “Reliable Sources” newsletter, but we weren’t told who until this week.

Enter Brian Stelter.

That’s right: the founder of the Reliable Sources show and newsletter who was fired by CNN two years ago amid Chris Licht’s takeover is rejoining the network. What a scab! Reports indicate that Darcy’s departure was sparked by pay disputes with CNN leadership and he left the network assuming “Reliable Sources” would die in his absence and he would take its audience with him. He was certainly not anticipating that his former mentor, who built “Reliable Sources,” would be there to take his place.

Stelter has kindly referred to Darcy’s new newsletter as a “complement,” while Darcy described Stelter as a “competitor.” Me-ow!

–Cockburn