A conservative legal organization is filing a complaint against Hunter Biden with the Washington, D.C., bar for alleged professional misconduct.
The America First Legal Foundation (AFL) filed a complaint Wednesday against Biden with the D.C. Court of Appeals Board of Professional Responsibility accusing him of engaging in a pattern of professional misconduct in violation of the D.C. bar’s rules. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Business Associate Eric Schwerin Performed Financial Services For Joe Biden Free Of Charge)
Biden is currently in good standing with the D.C. bar despite his two federal indictments for gun and tax-related offenses. AFL’s complaint cites evidence from Hunter Biden’s ongoing legal troubles, his foreign business dealings and emails on his abandoned laptop archive.
READ THE COMPLAINT:
“The public’s faith in the integrity of our profession requires the Rules of Professional Conduct to be enforced fairly and consistently; there should be one standard, and one standard only, for Bar investigations and discipline,” AFL’s complaint asserts. The legal organization filed a similar complaint in California against Hunter Biden’s friend and financier, Kevin Morris.
Hunter Biden was indicted in September for three federal gun charges in Delaware, with two related to alleged false statements and one connected to illegal firearm possession. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in October and faces up to 25 years in prison.
The gun indictment in Delaware occurred after his guilty plea deal for two tax misdemeanor charges and a pretrial diversion agreement for a single gun felony collapsed in July because of a dispute surrounding a prosecutorial immunity provision inside the diversion agreement.
He ended up pleading not guilty to the two tax offenses, and his legal team has argued the diversion agreement was legally valid. The tax charges and single gun charge have been dismissed.
“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. His admissions in the Delaware diversion agreement strongly suggest violations of Rules 8.4(b) and 8.4(c),” AFL’s complaint states.
Hunter Biden (R), son of US President Joe Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 26, 2023. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to minor tax offenses on July 26, as a deal with federal prosecutors fell apart in a Delaware court. The surprise reversal of Biden’s agreement last month to settle the charges came after Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about the complicated deal that would also settle a separate gun charge against the president’s son, US media reported. (Photo by RYAN COLLERD / AFP) (Photo by RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images)
D.C. bar rules 8.4 (b) and 8.4 (c) say it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act that reflects poorly on the attorney’s trustworthiness, and it is misconduct to engage in dishonest or fraudulent behavior. Biden graduated from Yale Law School in 1996 and formerly worked as counsel for major law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.
At the same time, Hunter Biden faces nine federal tax charges in California related to his alleged failure to pay over $1 million in taxes. He pleaded not guilty to the federal tax charges Jan. 11. Biden could end up in prison for a maximum of 17 years.
“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020,” the California indictment reads.
Hunter Biden’s lucrative foreign business dealings with individuals and entities in Ukraine, Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Romania are the subject of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his alleged role in those dealings.
Significant details from Hunter Biden’s business enterprise are contained on his abandoned laptop archive first reported by the New York Post. AFL has obtained records of communications between then-Vice President Joe Biden’s staffers and Hunter Biden and his business associates during the Obama administration.
Additionally, the legal group is suing the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) over Hunter Biden’s failure to register as a foreign agent and seeks public records related to Hunter Biden’s dealings with Chinese firm CEFC as the firm sought expansion into U.S. energy markets.
“Also, facts uncovered through multiple Congressional investigations and from emails from his own laptop demonstrate that Mr. Biden repeatedly stated and implied his ability to ‘influence improperly’ U.S. government agencies and officials, strongly suggesting violations of Rule 8.4(d),” the complaint concludes. Rule 8.4 (d) deems it professional misconduct for a lawyer to interfere with the administration of justice.
“There is substantial evidence suggesting that Mr. Biden has engaged in professional misconduct contrary to Rule 8.4,” AFL Director of Oversight and Investigations Reed D. Rubenstein said in a statement.
“Public faith in the integrity of the Bar demands that the Rules of Professional Conduct be applied consistently fairly — there must be one standard for all bar members, regardless of a lawyer’s particular political affiliation or family connections. An investigation of Mr. Biden is certainly warranted here.”