Lawyers for Hunter Biden, trying to save their client from the consequences of his unlawful actions, might have run afoul of the law themselves.
Biden’s lawyers are currently facing sanctions after being accused of lying to a clerk involved in the president’s son’s criminal tax case.
The lawyers, with the firm of Latham & Watkins, have responded to the accusations by saying the incident was just an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika had ordered the lawyers to explain themselves by Tuesday or face sanctions.
One of Hunter’s lawyers, Matthew Salerno, claimed the entire incident was merely because of “an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication,” as reported by the U.K. Daily Mail.
According to Fox News, the lawyers are accused of trying to remove evidence from IRS whistleblowers concerning the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Biden’s taxes.
“The matter under consideration appears to stem from an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication between a staff member at our firm and employees of the Court. We have no idea how the misunderstanding occurred, but our understanding is there was no misrepresentation,” Salerno wrote to Noreika on Tuesday, according to the Daily Mail.
Specifically, a woman identified as Jessica Bengels, litigation services director for Latham & Watkins, is accused of misrepresenting her employer when she asked a clerk by phone to remove the IRS testimony, and other evidence against Hunter, from the court docket, according to the Daily Mail.
Bengels allegedly called the court and said she had worked with Theodore Kittila, an attorney representing House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican.
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Smith had filed a brief to Noreika, arguing that she should toss Hunter Biden’s “sweetheart” plea deal, which allows him to avoid prison time, because of claims that Biden has received special treatment in his case.
The brief included the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers, as well as 448 pages of congressional testimony, according to the Daily Mail.
“[A]t approximately 1:30 p.m., we received word that our filing was removed from the docket,” Kittila wrote in a series of emails obtained by the Daily Mail.
“We promptly contacted the Clerk’s office, and we were advised that someone contacted the Court representing that they worked with my office [emphasis in the original] and that they were asking the Court to remove this from the docket. We immediately advised that this was inaccurate. The Clerk’s Office responded that we would need to re-file. We have done so now,” he added.
A court official responded to Kittila’s email, explaining that Bengels said she worked with the attorney and had asked for the filed brief to be immediately removed from the case.
“Hi Ted, Following up on our recent telephone conversation, the woman who called was a Jessica Bengels,” court official Samantha Grimes confirmed. “… She said she worked with Theodore Kittila and it was important the document was removed immediately or they could file a motion to seal. I do deeply apologize for all the confusion on our part.”
Noreika was not pleased with the matter, to say the least.
“It appears that the caller misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the clerk’s office to remove the amicus materials from the docket,” Norieka wrote in a court order said, according to the Daily Mail. “Therefore, it is hereby ordered that, on or before 9pm today on July 25, 2023, counsel for defendant shall show cause as to why sanctions should not be considered for misrepresentations to the court.”
Under the terms of the plea deal, Biden is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, according to Fox. He did not pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018, Fox reported.
He is also set to enter a pretrial diversion on a charge that he lied while purchasing a gun in 2018. The diversion will allow him to avoid prosecution on the charge, which could otherwise carry a 10-year prison term, according to Fox.
