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.

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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.

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, arrives for a court appearance, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

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.

Tags Hunter Biden Jason Smith Joe Biden