CNN
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Hunter Biden has hired a new, high-profile criminal defense attorney to guide him through his tax evasion trial in the coming weeks after talks over the summer with the special counsel who brought the case to court failed to reach an agreement.

A deal could still allow President Joe Biden’s son to avoid a second trial following his recent gun conviction, two sources familiar with the talks say.

The two sides have not been specific in their talks so far, and it is unclear whether they will reach an agreement before Biden is scheduled to go on trial in California next month on the tax-related charges, including three capital crimes, the sources said.

The situation has prompted Hunter Biden to bring in well-known criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, who runs his Los Angeles firm, for the tax case. Sources say the team that tried Biden’s gun case in Delaware backed down on Geragos due to the financial constraints of his ongoing legal fees and the time constraints of his Washington-based criminal defense attorneys.

The developments highlight how the legal and political situation surrounding the president’s son has changed in the past two months – and that it may still be tempting for Hunter Biden to avoid a second costly and embarrassing trial as his father prepares to leave the White House.

Money also plays a role. His main benefactor, Hollywood super-lawyer Kevin Morris, no longer has enough money for Biden’s defense, one of the sources told CNN. Over the past year and a half, Biden’s legal team has filed several lawsuits against his critics, but the bulk of his bills come from his criminal cases.

The trial in Delaware lasted seven days, but a tax trial would likely take significantly longer and thus incur far higher costs for the defendant.

Biden’s defense in Delaware and his aggressive approach in court and on Capitol Hill were led by Abbe Lowell, a top partner at the major white-collar defense firm Winston & Strawn.

The firm had several lawyers on the trials and planned appeals, but was swamped with other work this summer while Biden’s court work continued on the West Coast. The usual hourly rate for Lowell, who is based in Washington, D.C., is more than $1,700, according to a source familiar with the firm, though it is not known whether Biden will be charged that.

White House officials had previously resisted the idea of ​​launching fundraising appeals for bills in the president’s political circles, sources familiar with the matter told CNN in the spring.

A previous deal between Hunter Biden and special counsel David Weiss to avoid trial and possible prison time failed dramatically a year ago.

But in the days following Biden’s conviction in Delaware in early June, when the jury found he had illegally possessed a firearm after he lied on forms swearing he did not use drugs, talks of a plea deal resurfaced.

According to sources, the special counsel’s office told Biden’s team that he could plead guilty to the nine tax matters, including three felonies, he is charged with at any time without the Justice Department having to make significant concessions. But Biden has always sought to reduce his potential prison sentence, ideally by eking out only misdemeanor charges instead, an approach defense attorneys often seek in plea bargains.

The special counsel’s office declined to comment.

The closer the first day of the trial comes, the more intense the negotiations about the guilty plea become for the defendants.

The federal tax trial, set to begin early next month in Los Angeles, would revisit similarly painful episodes of drug addiction and dalliances with women that were raised in the gun trial earlier this year, including memories from his brother’s widow, Beau Biden, whom the special counsel’s office plans to call as a witness, according to recent court filings.

Lunden Roberts, the mother of one of Hunter Biden’s children over whose child support he had been fighting, was also subpoenaed to testify, her lawyer says.

Prosecutors will try to prove to the jury that Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes by concealing his international business dealings from the IRS and spending his money on expensive hotels, luxury cars and sex workers.

Biden paid back the taxes, but a conviction on those charges could extend the potential prison sentence he faces. He is scheduled to be sentenced on the gun conviction in November, just days after the presidential election, and faces prison time and fines.

At the same time, his father has the option to pardon him or reduce his sentence. After the conviction in Delaware – while the president was still running for a second term – Joe Biden said he would “abide by the jury’s decision” and neither pardon his son nor reduce his sentence, which he has the power to do as president.

It is not clear whether the president’s mind has changed since he withdrew his candidacy for re-election last month.

The White House declined to comment for this story.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys Lowell and Geragos have experience in advocating for pardons for prominent figures. Geragos secured a pardon from then-President Bill Clinton in the final hours of his term for one of the business associates who was detained during the Whitewater investigation.

However, sources say such legal requests may not be necessary in the Hunter Biden case, as any discussions about a possible pardon will likely take place between father and son, as the decision will be made toward the end of Biden’s presidency.

CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.