Sanctions may be imposed on Hunter Biden's attorney amid allegations of lying in a criminal tax case

Due to charges of lying to the clerk's office, the judge presiding over Hunter Biden's criminal case threatened Biden's legal team with fines. 

To purportedly have material concerning IRS whistleblowers deleted from the docket, Hunter Biden's attorney is charged with flouting court rules. Judge Maryellen Noreika of Delaware granted Biden's legal counsel till Tuesday at 9 p.m. to present their case.

 

In particular, a member of Hunter's legal team is accused of lying about her identity while requesting to have amicus documents removed from the docket. Instead of formally asking the court for the material to be sealed, she reportedly phoned the clerk to do so. 

According to the order, the caller, Ms Jessica Bengels, claimed to work for Mr Kittila and asked that the amicus materials be taken down because they contained private grand jury, tax, and social security information. "The Court has discussed the matter with the pertinent individuals in the Clerk's Office," it stated. 

The court said, "It seems that the caller misrepresented her name and the organization she worked for in an inappropriate attempt to persuade the clerk's office to strike the amicus documents from the docket. 

According to the ruling, the court will temporarily place the document under seal until the close of business on July 26, 2023, to allow the defendant to attempt to make the required showing. The complete document will be made public if the defendant cannot establish that showing. 

The attorneys' defence stated, "The matter under consideration appears to be the result of an unfortunate and unintentional misunderstanding between a staff member at our firm and employees of the Court." "We don't know how the miscommunication happened, but from what we understand, there was no misrepresentation," 

The letter continued, "We hope this letter and the declaration attached dispel any implication that the undersigned counsel or our staff would ever intentionally misrepresent or mislead the Court concerning any matter." 

On Wednesday, Biden will enter a guilty plea to two charges of intentional refusal to pay federal income tax, which is misdemeanours. According to reports, The First Son failed to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on profits of over $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018. 

With a different criminal accusation involving a gun, Biden is also scheduled to sign a pretrial diversion deal. Biden and the Department of Justice drafted a plea arrangement, which opponents have called a "sweetheart deal," and Noreika has the authority to accept or reject it.