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.”
Judge Noreika gave Mr. Biden’s lawyers until 9 p.m. on Tuesday to provide an explanation from their perspective.
“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.
