Hunter Biden expected to plead guilty to federal tax crimes

US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, is expected to plead guilty in a federal court to two misdemeanour crimes for not paying taxes on time.

In a plea deal last month, Hunter Biden also agreed to admit to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user.

The judge must first decide whether to accept the plea deal, which may keep the US first son out of jail.

It marks the first time the justice department has charged the child of a sitting president.

The case follows a five-year justice department investigation into the finances of Hunter Biden, who arrived on Wednesday morning at the court in Wilmington, Delaware.

It's unclear whether Hunter Biden will also be sentenced on Wednesday.

The misdemeanour tax counts are minor charges compared to the more serious allegations against Hunter Biden that congressional Republicans have introduced to committee hearings.

Republicans have alleged that Hunter Biden is getting special treatment because he is the president's son.

They say he has been given an unusually lenient plea deal because his father is in the White House.

That claim is vigorously denied by the US Attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, who led the investigation.

Mr Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump and left in place by the Biden administration to finish the investigation into Hunter Biden.

The prosecutor has offered to testify in front of Congress to address criticism of the inquiry.

The House of Representatives Oversight Committee, which is examining all sorts of allegations against Hunter Biden, has already heard testimony from a whistleblower who claimed the justice department had deliberately slow-walked the tax investigation.

Republican congressman and oversight panel member Tim Burchett told the BBC he is disgusted by that assertion.

"Why would you break the rules for a dirt bag like Hunter Biden?" said the Tennessee Republican. "I mean, he's got all this money.

"He is just a despicable human being. And yet, this is the kind of guy that the Democrats want to cover for."

Republicans say that public confidence in the justice system will be undermined by the special treatment they allege he has received.

Democrats say it is no coincidence that Republicans are attacking the justice system while Mr Trump faces two criminal indictments and may soon learn of charges against him in two more cases.

Republicans insist that President Biden has "weaponised" the justice department and the FBI to unfairly target Mr Trump while going soft on Hunter Biden.

The White House denies these claims. The justice department appointed an independent special counsel, Jack Smith, to investigate Mr Trump to try to avoid any impression of political interference.

Mr Smith has already indicted the former president over classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Largo, Mr Trump's Florida residence.

He may also bring charges against Mr Trump in relation to the US Capitol riot two years ago.

Republicans have focused on a notorious laptop that Hunter Biden apparently abandoned in a computer repair shop in Delaware.

The contents of the computer made their way into the hands of Trump allies and have been used to try to prove bribery and corruption against the president's son and to attempt to connect his father to illegal business dealings.

Democratic strategist Ashley Etienne said politicians will still be talking about Hunter Biden's laptop right up until next year's presidential election.

She argued that Republicans were trying to create a "false equivalency" between the misdemeanours to which Hunter Biden wants to plead guilty and the crimes with which Donald Trump has been charged.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in the two cases that have come to court so far.

Ms Etienne says she believes this strategy will backfire on Republicans as it will allow Democrats to argue that their political rivals are not focused on the issues that voters care about, but instead are "hyper-focused on protecting and defending Donald Trump at the expense of the American people".

The allegations that the House Oversight Committee are still pursuing against Hunter Biden are complex and potentially confusing.

Very few voters have a clear idea of who alleged that Hunter Biden extorted $5m for his father, or why his uncle, Jim Biden, was paid by a Chinese energy firm.