Lawyers for Hunter Biden may face legal sanctions for allegedly misrepresenting themselves to the court clerk in order to have information related to IRS whistleblowers removed from the case record.
A member of Mr. Biden’s legal team is accused of falsely identifying herself while requesting the removal of amicus materials. According to the court clerk, Jessica Bengels, a New York-based Latham and Watkins litigation services director, contacted the clerk and asked to have the information kept confidential.
In a July 25 letter, Theodore Kittila informed Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika of the alleged trick, and that the clerk’s office had “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.”
“The Court has discussed the matter with the relevant individuals in the Clerk’s Office and has been informed that the caller, Ms. Jessica Bengels, represented that she worked with Mr. Kittila and requested the amicus materials be taken down because they contained sensitive grand jury, taxpayer and social security information,” the order reads.
Judge Noreika noted 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.”
The alleged deceitful tactic was an attempt to remove IRS whistleblower testimony about the Department of Justice’s alleged inadequate criminal investigation into Mr. Biden’s tax-related offenses from the court’s official records.
The court has temporarily placed the document under seal until the close of business on Wednesday “to afford Defendant the opportunity to try to make the requisite showing.”
“Should Defendant fail to make that showing, the document will be unsealed in its entirety,” the order reads.
Filing Removed From Docket
The issue, first reported by Daily Mail, came after Mr. Kittila, counsel for Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, sought to file an Amicus Curiae Brief in Aid of Plea Hearing.Mr. Smith asked Judge Noreika to reject Mr. Biden’s plea deal, alleging preferential treatment from Delaware prosecutors.
However, the situation took a dramatic turn when Mr. Biden’s lawyers raised objections and allegedly attempted to have the filing removed from the court docket.
Mr. Kittila, an attorney at Halloran Farkas and Kittila, submitted the motion along with the proposed Amicus Curiae Brief to Judge Noreika of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
The documents were made publicly available on the House Ways and Means Committee’s website and have been accessible since June 22, following an approved committee vote.
According to an email chain provided in the filing by Mr. Kittila, Mr. Biden’s lawyer Christopher Clark contended that the materials contained “grand jury and confidential taxpayer information,” alleging a violation of the court’s rules.
Mr. Kittila, in response, asserted that the filing only included redacted documents that had been properly disclosed on the committee’s website.
Mr. Smith’s lawyer told the judge that shortly after the exchange between the parties, the filing made by Mr. Kittila’s legal team was unexpectedly removed from the court’s docket. When contacted, the clerk’s office revealed that an individual, purportedly representing Mr. Kittila’s office, had requested the removal.
To support his claims, Mr. Katilla included in his filing a copy of an email from the Delaware clerk.
“The woman who called was a Jessica Bengels,” the clerk, Sam Grimes, wrote to Mr. Kittila, including her phone number in the email.
“She said she worked with Theodore Kittila and it was important the document was removed immediately,” Mr. Grimes wrote.
However, this claim was swiftly refuted by Mr. Kittila, who expressed deep concern about the situation and urged that if Mr. Biden’s counsel, Mr. Clark, or any other party sought to seal publicly available documents, they should do so through a proper motion.
Mr. Clark, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, hit back at the claims, calling them “inaccurate” in one email.
“As far as I am aware the clerk took the filing down on their own accord,” Mr. Clark wrote to Mr. Kittila in an email dated July 25.
In response, Mr. Kittila advised Mr. Clark to “take a step back from your statements.”
“The clerk’s office advised that it was represented to her that the request was being made by my firm. We will be advising Judge Noreika of this improper conduct,” Mr. Kittila wrote.
In reply, Mr. Clark wrote, “I stand by all of my statements and I hope you have an affidavit from the clerk in support of yours.”
The Epoch Times contacted Hunter Biden’s attorney for comment.
A combined Initial Appearance and Plea Hearing for Mr. Biden is set for Wednesday at 10 a.m. before Judge Noreika. Top Republicans are seeking to get the plea deal, which they consider lenient, tossed.
