President Joe Biden said people who make millions of dollars should "just pay your taxes," just weeks after his Department of Justice offered his son a "sweetheart" plea deal for not paying his taxes.
"I’m a capitalist. If you can make a billion dollars, make it. If you can make a million dollars, make it. Just pay your taxes. Just pay your taxes," Biden said at a campaign event in Albuquerque on Wednesday. The comments come after the DOJ in June arranged a plea deal for Hunter Biden that would have seen him avoid prison time over his failure to pay taxes on millions of dollars from overseas dealings. The plea deal was ultimately rejected by a federal judge, and Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the tax crime charges.
Biden would have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax crimes and received immunity on a broad range of criminal charges, but federal judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the deal. She told prosecutors and Biden's legal team last month to craft a new one. She said the deal was "not standard" and "different from what I normally see."
According to whistleblowers in the IRS, Hunter Biden fraudulently expensed payments to prostitutes and a sex club from his taxes.
House Republicans last month launched an investigation into the plea deal.