Hunter Biden offered to plead guilty to the nine tax crimes he faces in a California federal court Thursday afternoon, tossing aside the “Alford plea” he attempted earlier in the day.  An Alford plea is defined as “a plea of guilty containing a protestation of innocence.”  In such cases, the defendant pleads guilty, but does not have to specifically admit to the guilt itself and maintains a claim of innocence, while agreeing to the conviction in the charged crime.

The Alford plea came as a surprise to prosecutor Leo Wise, who told District Judge Mark Scarsi after a 3-hour recess that the government objected.

“We were as shocked as anyone in the courtroom this morning,” Wise said during the drawn-out plea proceedings in downtown Los Angeles. “I don’t know how the defendant could maintain his innocence and agree the facts are true.”

“I want to make something crystal clear – the United States oppose an Alford plea,” Wise said. “Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty. He is not permitted to plead guilty on special terms,’ Wise added.

Biden is accused of evading $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 and initially pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Prosecutors say Hunter spent the money on luxury cars, extravagant hotels and prostitutes, rather than pay his taxes.

The president’s son eventually paid roughly $2 million in back taxes and penalties after learning of the investigation and getting sober, following a years-long struggle with drug addiction and alcoholism. In the weeks before the trial, the judge blocked Biden’s lawyers from telling jurors about the belated tax payment, or about the potential origins of his addiction – dealing a major blow to his defense strategy.

Lowell admitted in court “there is overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s guilt,” but said “this can be resolved today. It’s not a complicated issue.”

Scarsi, a Trump appointee, said he would make a decision on the matter at a later date.

But in a surprising turn of events, Hunter Biden’s defense team told the judge later Thursday that Biden was prepared to plead guilty without any special plea deal.

Biden said under oath in federal court in Los Angeles Thursday that nobody made any promises to him, to convince him to plead guilty in his tax case. The president’s son also testified that nobody pressured him to plead guilty in any way.

Prosecutors said they want Scarsi to specifically ask Biden if he admits that all of the allegations in the indictment are true.

“There has to be a factual basis for the court to take the plea. It should be crystal clear … The defendant should be made to indicate whether he agrees or disagrees with any of the facts put forward,” prosecutor Leo Wise told the judge.

Biden, 54, was convicted in June on three federal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware. He faces 25 years in prison when he’s sentenced in the gun case in November. The embattled first son also faces up to 17 years behind bars if convicted in the tax case.

More serious charges related to money laundering, bribery, illegal influence peddling, and operating as an unregistered foreign agent of corrupt and adversarial foreign governments were never brought against the first son.

The gun and tax evasion charges came only after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the “sweetheart” plea deal between Delaware US attorney David Weiss and the defendant’s attorneys in July 2023.

Joe Biden has repeatedly said  he would not pardon his son in either of his cases. When Kamala Harris was asked today whether she would pardon Hunter, she ignored the question.