Hunter’s Lawyers Accused Of Impersonating Govt. Attorney To Scrub Evidence

Hunter Biden’s lawyers face sanctions after they were accused on Tuesday night of an ethical violation by impersonating a government attorney in order to try and have an amicus (or “friend of the court”) brief removed from a filing in his criminal tax case.

The amicus in question is 448 pages of congressional testimony from IRS whistleblowers.

Earlier Tuesday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith filed the brief with the court, which suggests that the judge, Maryellen Noreika, toss Hunter’s ‘sweetheart’ plea deal with Delaware prosecutors due to preferential treatment.

Later that day, someone from Hunter’s attorney Chris Clark’s former law firm called the Delaware clerk, allegedly pretending to be from the office of Chairman Smith’s attorney, Theodore Kittila, asking the court to remove the original filing – and the attached 448-pages of Congressional testimony from the whistleblowers.

The documents were then taken down and sealed.

The real Kittila quickly filed an outraged letter with the court, asking for a reversal.

“We promptly contacted the clerk’s office, and we were advised that someone contacted the court representing that they worked with my office and that they were asking the court to remove this from the docket,” wrote Kittila, adding “We immediately advised that this was inaccurate.”

BREAKING: Hunter Biden’s lawyers are facing sanctions after they allegedly lied to the Delaware clerk in his criminal tax case.

The Biden Crime Family is at it again.

According to the Daily Mail, someone from Hunter Biden’s attorney’s law office called the Delaware clerk… pic.twitter.com/eiJS7KWYSz

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 25, 2023

More via the Daily Mail:

In a fiery email exchange with Kittila about the apparent skullduggery, Hunter’s lawyer Clark hit back, denying any improper conduct and claiming ‘the clerk took the filing down on their own accord’.

But the top Republican’s lawyer included in his filing a copy of an email from the Delaware clerk, backing up his claims.

‘The woman who called was a Jessica Bengels,’ he wrote adding her phone number.  

‘She said she worked with Theodore Kittila and it was important the document was removed immediately,‘ the clerk, Sam Grimes, wrote to Kittila.

According to Grimes’s email, the alleged trickster is New York-based Latham & Watkins litigation services director Jessica Bengels.

Bengels’ LinkedIn page says she has been ‘litigation services counsel’ at the firm since January 2023, and has worked there since 2006. She went to Brown University then Fordham law school.

Clark worked for Latham & Watkins up until April this year. –Daily Mail

Hunter’s lawyers, meanwhile, claim that the filing contained “personal tax information,” and should therefore be sealed, despite the fact that the House Ways and Means Committee released the same documents publicly a month ago.

“Your attempts to publicly file my client’s personal financial information with no protections are improper, illegal and in violation of applicable rules,” Clark wrote to Kittila, adding “I stand by my statements.”

Judge is pissed

In a Tuesday afternoon order, Judge Noreika demanded Hunter’s lawyers explain themselves.

“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,” reads the order. “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.”

Hunter’s lawyers responded, claiming it was nothing more than a “an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication.”

“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,” wrote Hunter’s Latham & Watkins lawyer Matthew Salerno in response – blaming a convoluted game of telephone tag.

“We stand prepared to address any inquiries of the Court to rectify this misunderstanding. Should the Court consider this letter and the accompanying materials to be an insufficient explanation for this misunderstanding, we request an opportunity to more fully brief and be heard on the issues of concern to the Court,” the response continues.

BREAKING: Hunter Biden’s attorneys respond after they allegedly lied to the Delaware clerk to get key documents against Hunter retracted.

Hunter’s plea deal is now in jeopardy.

According to Hunter’s lawyers, the situation is just one big misunderstanding.

“We stand prepared to… pic.twitter.com/78f99KQ5gw

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 26, 2023

Includes a declaration from Jessica Bengels – the attorney accused of misrepresenting her firm.

“At no time during any call with the Court today or ever did I misrepresent my firm affiliation.”

What will the court do? Probably nothing. pic.twitter.com/7zdBPUa49Z

— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) July 26, 2023

As Jonathan Turley notes;

The entire matter could be a misunderstanding, but the clerk clearly did not think so. The problem for Hunter could be a delay in accepting the plea bargain. It is not clear what additional evidence the Court could secure on the issue, but it could want interviews on the record.

I still believe that it is unlikely that the court would refuse to sign off on the plea bargain. Most judges are leery of demanding more charges against a defendant. That is a matter usually left to the discretion of the prosecutors. The investigation and implications of this dubious deal will ultimately be left to Congress.