Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to two minor tax offences

US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, expected to plead guilty to two minor tax offences and avoid jail but after the deal with federal prosecutors derailed in a Delaware court, he pleaded 'not guilty,' according to The Washington Post.

Earlier Hunter Biden made a deal with prosecutors to admit the two misdemeanours of not paying federal taxes on time in 2017 and 2018 and keep the gun charge off his record and avoid jail time — provided that he meets conditions over a two-year period including staying drug-free and not buying a firearm, The Washington Post reported.

On Wednesday, when the federal judge asked Hunter Biden if he would plead guilty knowing he could still face additional charges, he said "no."

Prosecutors in the courtroom maintained this was part of the agreement all along. “Then we misunderstood, we’re ripping it up,” Hunter Biden lawyer Chris Clark snapped at them.

After the failure of divisional agreements -- a deal between Hunter Biden and prosecutors-- the judge told the two sides to work on how the deal was structured and resubmit it when it can pass constitutional muster, as per The Washington Post.

If his lawyers and the prosecutors can’t figure out a way to resurrect the plea deal, he could eventually face a criminal trial on the tax charges. He could also theoretically be charged with illegally purchasing a firearm, it said.

The Trump-era Justice Department started investigating Hunter Biden in 2018, and the probe steadily expanded to examine whether he violated money laundering and foreign lobbying laws with his multimillion-dollar overseas business dealings. Federal investigators also looked into Hunter Biden’s unpaid taxes and lavish spending, which came amid a struggle with addiction.

Hunter Biden has always been a trouble for his father's politics. Starting with the 2020 election, critics of Joe Biden have latched onto every salacious detail about Hunter Biden’s life to paint a picture of an unsavoury, corrupt family, reported The Washington Post.

Hunter Biden has struggled with debt and addiction. He had a relationship with his deceased brother’s wife. And Republicans have combed through texts, emails and even nude photos from a laptop he apparently left in a Delaware repair shop before the 2020 election that quickly made its way into the hands of Trump allies.