The judge presiding over the Hunter Biden criminal case threatened Biden’s legal team with sanctions over allegations about lying to the clerk’s office.
Hunter Biden’s counsel is accused of avoiding proper court procedure to allegedly get information about IRS whistleblowers removed from the docket. Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika gave Biden’s legal team until 9 p.m. on Tuesday to explain their side.
Specifically, a lawyer from Hunter’s legal team is accused of misrepresenting who she was when asking to remove amicus materials from the docket. She allegedly called to ask the clerk to seal the information instead of making a formal request to the court.
“The Court has discussed the matter with the relevant individuals in the Clerk’s Office and has been informed that the caller, Ms. Jessica Bengels, represented that she worked with Mr. Kittila and requested the amicus materials be taken down because they contained sensitive grand jury, taxpayer and social security information,” the order read.
BIDEN’S CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS DEALINGS IS BECOMING HARDER TO MAINTAIN
Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, arrives at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC, US, on Sunday, June 25, 2023. (Julia Nikhinson/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“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,” the judge added.
“The Court will temporarily place the document under seal until close of business on July 26, 2023 to afford Defendant the opportunity to try to make the requisite showing,” the order read. “Should Defendant fail to make that showing, the document will be unsealed in its entirety.”
In a letter obtained by Fox News, Biden’s legal team told the judge that the lawyer who called the clerk had accurately represented her affiliation with her law firm.
BIDEN REPEATEDLY DENIED DISCUSSING BUSINESS DEALS WITH HUNTER, BUT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS OTHERWISE
FILE – Hunter Biden walks along the South Lawn before the pardoning ceremony for the national Thanksgiving turkeys at the White House in Washington, Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
“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,” the lawyers’ defense read. “We have no idea how the misunderstanding occurred, but our understanding is there was no misrepresentation.”
“We hope this letter and the attached declaration dispels any suggestion that undersigned counsel or our staff would ever intentionally misrepresent or mislead the Court with respect to any matter,” the letter added.
Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax on Wednesday. The First Son reportedly failed to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on over $1.5 million of earnings in 2017 and 2018.
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President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden holding Beau Biden and Naomi Biden watch fireworks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Biden is also set to enter a pretrial diversion agreement over a separate gun-related felony charge. A plea agreement – which has been called a sweetheart deal by critics – was negotiated between Biden and the Department of Justice, which Noreika has the power to reject or accept.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Hunter Biden’s defense.
Fox News’ Claudia Tenney and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
