Judge says Hunter Biden legal team apparently ‘misrepresented’ identity to court clerk
BY
ZACH SCHONFELD - 07/26/23 9:58 AM ET
The
judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s criminal case
accused a member of his legal team of misrepresenting themselves to the clerk’s
office, an unusual development that has raised the possibility of sanctions.
Biden’s
lawyers insisted the debacle is a misunderstanding in court filings Tuesday
night, saying they had not intentionally deceived anyone at the court.
At
issue was an attempt by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to block Biden’s
plea agreement ahead of a Wednesday hearing. Smith filed documents on
Tuesday urging
the judge to consider recent testimony to Congress by IRS
whistleblowers, who alleged Biden received preferential treatment.
Court
filings indicate that Jessica Bengels, an administrative staff member at Latham
& Watkins,
a firm representing Biden, called a member of the court clerk’s office just
before noon Tuesday seeking the documents’ removal from the public docket,
saying they contained secret details including social security, taxpayer and
grand jury information.
But
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is overseeing Biden’s case, later
suggested Bengels had pretended to call from the committee chairman’s law firm.
Noreika ordered Biden’s attorneys to submit in writing why they shouldn’t be sanctioned.
“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,” Noreika, a Trump appointee, wrote in the order.
Responding
to Noreika’s order Tuesday night, a Biden attorney said there was no
misrepresentation.
“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,” Matthew Salerno, the attorney, wrote in a letter to the judge.
Attached
to the letter was a declaration from Bengels, written under penalty of perjury,
in which Bengels said she first called a clerk named Julia to ask for guidance
as to the procedures for restricting access to the private information.
Upon
being asked by the clerk, Bengels said she provided the name of her law firm
during the call and indicated the documents were filed by attorney Theodore
Kittila’s firm, which represents the Republican committee chairman.
Twelve
minutes later, Bengels said she received a call back from another court
employee who said they would be removing the material from the docket. Bengels
said she was “completely confident” she did not pretend to call from the other
firm, although the second employee did not ask about who Bengels worked for.
“I
believe there may have been some confusion when Julia passed the information on
to the other Court employee, resulting in a mistaken understanding that I had
called from Mr. Kittila’s firm,” Bengels wrote.
In
court filings, Kittila said he was “deeply concerned” by the development and
attached an email from the clerk’s office indicating Bengels had pretended to
be calling from the other firm. He also pushed back on the need to seal the
documents in question, saying they were already public before they were
submitted to the court.
“The
exhibits that were filed have been public since June 22, 2023, following an
approved vote of the House Ways and Means Committee. Moreover, the documents
that were made public were redacted by both counsel for the minority and the
majority members of the Ways and Means Committee,” Kittila wrote.
The
president’s son has agreed
to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay taxes
and avoid prosecution for possessing a gun while being an unlawful user of a
controlled substance. The judge is set to preside over a plea hearing Wednesday
at 10 a.m. ET.
Connecting
the Dots:
Philip
Perry is a partner
at Latham & Watkins, LLP and married to Elizabeth
(Liz) Cheney Perry.
Bradley C. Faris is
a partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP and an attorney
at Koch Industries.
Timothy P.
FitzSimons is a partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP and
an attorney at Koch Industries.
Mark D. Gerstein is
a partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP and an attorney
at Koch Industries.
Shaun D. Hartley is
a partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP and an attorney
at Koch Industries.
Brad E. Kotler is
a partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP and an attorney
at Koch Industries.
Latham &
Watkins, LLP is Koch Industries law firm.
David H. Koch is
the EVP for Koch Industries and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for
the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Madeleine K.
Albright was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
an advisory board member for the Truman National Security Project and
the president of the Center for National Policy.
R. Hunter Biden is
a director at the Truman National Security Project, a director at
the Center for National Policy and Joseph R. Biden
Jr’s son.
Kamala D. Harris is
an advisory board member for the Truman National Security Project,
an advisory board member for the Center for National Policy and the
Vice President for the Joe Biden Administration.
Resources:
Past Research
Hunter
Biden Hires Ex-Clinton Lawyer Ahead of GOP Probes (Connecting the Dots:
Elizabeth Cheney Perry, Her Husband, Latham & Watkins, NBC News, Hunter
Biden, Kamala Harris & Soros Funding, All Networking) (Past Research on Latham & Watkins)
FRIDAY,
DECEMBER 23, 2022
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