Hunter Biden Hit With Bar Complaint Over ‘Pattern of Professional Misconduct’

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 10:Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden listens as his lawyer Abbe Lowell speaks to the press outside a House Oversight Committee meeting on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee is meeting today as it considers citing him for Contempt of Congress. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s son has violated rules for lawyers and should be investigated by the District of Columbia Bar, a new complaint filed on Jan. 31 states.

Hunter Biden, 53, is currently in good standing with the bar, but his conduct in recent years clearly violates professional rules, America First Legal said in the complaint.

Officials with the nonprofit pointed to how, in 2023, Mr. Biden acknowledged illegally possessing a gun while being a drug addict in a diversion agreement with federal prosecutors. In the agreement, which was later scuttled, Mr. Biden also said he knowingly deceived a gun dealer by checking on a federal form a box certifying he was not addicted to illegal drugs, even though he knew the certification was false.

They also highlighted evidence accumulated by Republicans in Congress that was described as showing Mr. Biden “sold access to his father’s official government position, influence on United States policy, and protection from investigations or prosecution.”

The evidence includes a message to a Chinese official that said, “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” with Mr. Biden adding later that if he received a call, “I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.”

The bar should also probe Mr. Biden because he was on the board of Ukraine-based Burisma Holdings, a company that meets the definition of a foreign principal under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Mr. Biden never registered as a foreign agent under the act, even though he was helping represent the firm to the U.S. government, America First Legal said.

District of Columbia bar rules define misconduct as, in part, “commit[ting] a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects” and “stat[ing] or imply[ing] an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official.”

“The evidence is that Mr. Biden has engaged in professional misconduct, repeatedly and on a significant scale, thereby raising substantial questions as to his honesty, trustworthiness, and fitness as a lawyer,” Reed Rubinstein, senior counselor and director of oversight and investigations for America First Legal, wrote in the complaint.

“The public’s faith in the legal system’s integrity demands that the Rules of Professional Conduct be enforced fairly and consistently; there should be one standard, and one standard only, for investigations and discipline,” he added later.

America First Legal pointed to how the D.C. Bar previously charged Jeffrey Clark, who served in President Donald Trump’s administration, with an ethics violation for drafting a letter that called for Georgia officials to convene a legislative session to go over the 2020 presidential election vote count.

Mr. Biden’s lawyer and the D.C. Bar did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Biden is currently a member of the bar in the district and in the state of Connecticut, he said during a 2023 hearing in Delaware for the gun charges. Mr. Biden graduated from Yale Law School in 1996.

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, flanked by Kevin Morris, left, and Abbe Lowell, right, attend a House Oversight Committee meeting in Washington, on Jan. 10, 2024. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Kevin Morris Complaint

America First Legal previously lodged a complaint with California officials over the conduct of Kevin Morris, a lawyer who has represented Mr. Biden.

Mr. Morris, 60, has said he loaned Mr. Biden millions of dollars, including paying for his housing in California.

Bar rules in the state say that lawyers “shall not directly or indirectly pay or agree to pay, guarantee, or represent that the lawyer or lawyer’s law firm will pay the personal or business expenses of a prospective or existing client.”

“Mr. Morris’s provision of funds to his client patently violates Rule 1.8.5 and an investigation into this matter is warranted,” America First Legal said.

“The State Bar of California cannot confirm whether it has received a complaint or whether an investigation is underway,” a spokesman told The Epoch Times via email. “By law, disciplinary investigations are confidential, unless confidentiality is waived.”

Mr. Morris could not be reached.

Mr. Morris recently told members of the U.S. House of Representatives that he began loaning Mr. Biden money shortly after they met in 2019 while at a campaign event for President Biden, who was running for president.

Mr. Morris said he reviewed the California rules of professional conduct and that “there’s nothing wrong with a loan to a client when the client is fully informed and has complete knowledge.”

Mr. Morris also started representing Mr. Biden in 2019 about a week after they met, according to Mr. Morris.

“I began representing him at that moment. And, you know, my understanding of the rules of professional responsibility and so forth is that’s how you do it. That’s how you can do it,” Mr. Morris said.

A retainer agreement was executed in 2020, he said. He declined to say how much he was being paid for the representation.