Politics

Hunter Biden’s Latest Legal Allegation Could Be ‘Very Bad’ For American Journalism, Analysts Say

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Robert McGreevy Reporter
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Jammed in the letter Hunter Biden’s lawyers sent to Fox News, which led to the company pulling a documentary, is a legal allegation that has serious implications for American journalism, analysts told the Daily Caller.

Biden’s lawyers accused Fox of unlawfully exploiting his name, image and likeness (NIL) and violating revenge porn laws. The first son’s legal team also argued that certain claims made by former FBI confidential human source (CHS) Alexander Smirnov, which Fox used in their reporting, had been “debunked.” Aaron Terr, Director of Public Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), told the Daily Caller that if the revenge porn allegations were to succeed, “that would be a very bad ruling for a free press.”

“The media has the first amendment right to publish even illegally obtained information as long as they didn’t participate in the illegal conduct itself. So, of course, the government can punish the hacker. But the First Amendment broadly protects the right of the press to report on information in the public interest, or that’s already been made publicly available, even if some uninvolved party was responsible or participated in some illegal activity that resulted in the information becoming public,” Terr said.

Biden’s lawyers demanded the network remove their documentary, “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” from their Fox Nation streaming platform. The Biden team asserts the usage of the pictures violates his privacy rights under New York Civil Rights Law and that the series exploits his NIL.

“Here, without Mr. Biden’s consent, Fox Nation produced and aired an entirely fictional six-part ‘mock trial,'” Biden’s lawyers wrote. They argue that Fox was not reporting on a newsworthy event, but rather “sought to ‘commercialize Mr. Biden’s personality through a form of treatment distinct from the dissemination of news or information.'”

The outlet ultimately removed the series out of an “abundance of caution,” a Fox spokesperson told the Daily Caller.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 28: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, listens as his attorney Abbe Lowell makes a statement to the press following a closed-door deposition before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and House Judiciary Committee in the O’Neill House Office Building on February 28, 2024 in Washington, DC. The meeting is part of the Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Fox “unlawfully published and continues to publish intimate images of Mr. Biden depicting him in the nude as well as engaged in sex acts in violation of the majority of states’ laws against the nonconsensual disclosure of sexually explicit images and videos, sometimes referred to as ‘revenge porn’ laws,” Biden’s lawyers claim.

James Bopp, general counsel for the James Madison Institute for Free Speech, also warned the Daily Caller of the ramifications the revenge porn allegations have for American media.

“This is a calculated effort to chill and intimidate,” Bopp said. “It’s all about suppressing the freedom of speech and press.”

Bopp said revenge porn laws only apply when there’s no legitimate public interest in publishing the content.

“This isn’t revenge porn, when somebody is trying to punish somebody else,” Bopp said. “This has legitimate public interest that has to do with the conduct of Hunter’s father in office, in terms of the threat of the possibility that he would be compromised because of the conduct of his son. So, you know, this isn’t just satisfying somebody’s interest. This is a legitimate issue for the press to report upon.”

“[The images] can be illegally placed in the public domain just like the Pentagon Papers were, and they can still be published,” Bopp continued.

Delaware computer repair shop owner John Mac Isaac says a man he believes to be Biden dropped three laptops off at his business in April 2019, the New York Post reported. Mac Isaac says he retained legal possession of Biden’s laptop after the first son never came back to retrieve it. Mac Isaac sued Biden for allegedly defaming him after Biden said Mac Isaac illegally obtained the data.

Biden’s lawyers challenged this fact in a countersuit against Mac Isaac, according to The Washington Post.

“And contrary to Mac Isaac’s claim that property left in his shop is abandoned property after 90 days, he admits in his recently published book and in other media appearances that he actually began accessing what he claims he had in his possession as Mr. Biden’s data long before 90 days had expired from when he claims any property or data was left in his shop,” the lawsuit reads.

Issac reportedly gave a duplicate of the laptop’s hard drive to the FBI and later alerted Trump’s lawyer at the time, Rudy Giuliani, who gave the New York Post a copy.

Biden’s lawyers insist the materials were “hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated digital material which were intended to remain private and confidential and which were unlawfully procured and published without Mr. Biden’s consent.”

Hunter Biden is suing Rudy Giuliani and his lawyers for what his legal team calls “a total annihilation” of Hunter’s digital privacy, accusing them of “hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff’s devices or storage platforms,” according to the lawsuit. (RELATED: Daily Beast Apologizes To Delaware Repair Shop Owner Who Obtained Hunter Biden’s Laptop)

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 15: Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks with reporters outside of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse after a verdict was reached in his defamation jury trial on December 15, 2023 in Washington, DC. A jury has ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The goal of these allegations is to “chill negative coverage” of Hunter Biden, Heritage Foundation’s Senior Legal Fellow Zack Smith told the Daily Caller, calling it an “aggressive strategy.”

“At least in the very narrow sense that news outlets are reporting on what has already been entered into the public domain, you know, that’s a tough hurdle for Hunter Biden to clear,” Smith continued. “Even if Hunter Biden were to file a lawsuit on a kind of defamation ground, that’s a very high burden.”

News outlets have more leeway when it comes to publishing information about high-profile figures, but there’s an “unfortunate reality” about that freedom that has been playing out in recent years, according to Smith.

“It certainly seems like, as with so many instances these days, that there’s an attempt to impose a double standard about what can be covered, or what can be appropriately discussed, depending on the politics of the person being covered or discussed, with obviously detrimental information for those on the left ostensibly receiving more protection than those on the right,” Smith said.

Biden’s lawyers also demanded a retraction and correction for Fox’s reporting on claims made by Smirnov, the former FBI CHS, who accused Hunter and Joe Biden of receiving $5 million each from Ukrainian gas company, Burisma. Hunter Biden sat on Burisma’s board from 2014 to 2019, according to his tax indictment.

Hunter Biden’s legal team claimed that Fox’s broad coverage of Smirnov’s accusations amounted to a “conspiracy” because the allegations had been “confirmed to be false.”

A grand jury indicted Smirnov for allegedly lying to the FBI in February, claiming his recounting of those payments were “fabrications,” a DOJ statement reads. Smirnov pled not guilty and has not been convicted.

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 12: World Food Program USA Board Chairman Hunter Biden (L) and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden attend the World Food Program USA’s Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony at Organization of American States on April 12, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)

Hunter Biden’s lawyers claimed Fox knew “that the source of the bribery allegation was an unverified and uncorroborated claim from a foreign national who was an FBI informant and that the allegation was dubious at best,” according to the letter. They demanded that Fox update its reporting to show that “the source of these allegations has been federally indicted for fabricating the allegations.” 

The FBI had previously told the House Oversight Committee that Smirnov “was credible and trusted, had worked for the FBI for over a decade and was paid six figures,” a fact sheet from Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley regarding Smirnov’s indictment reads.

“Smirnov was so trusted by the FBI that he even received authorization ‘to engage in illegal activity for investigative purposes’ and was told by the FBI he may need to testify in criminal prosecutions on behalf of the government,” Grassley’s fact sheet says.

Hunter Biden explained why he was taking action against Fox News in a May 19 interview with the Daily Beast.

“I’m not saying my addiction is an excuse for my bad behavior. What I’m saying is that my addiction is not an excuse for them to dehumanize me—and in doing so dehumanize everybody from the addict that you pass it on the street, to the one that you live with,” Hunter Biden said. “That is the principal motivating factor.”

Fox News directed the Daily Beast to a previous statement that cites their “constitutionally protected coverage” about “a public figure who has been the subject of investigations by both the Department of Justice and Congress, has been indicted by two different US Attorney’s Offices in California and Delaware, and has admitted to multiple incidents of wrongdoing.”

“Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered these highly publicized events as well as the subsequent indictment of an FBI informant who was the source of certain claims made about Mr. Biden,” the statement reads.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers then asked Fox to retract that statement, claiming it “falsely states that Hunter Biden was the subject of an investigation by Congress …mischaracterizes the plain facts of his litigation, and intentionally avoids telling their audience that their attacks on Hunter were ‘based’ on an informant who lied.”

Twitter censored the New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop contents in October 2020. Several days later, 51 former members of the intelligence community, including former CIA directors Leon Panetta and John Brennan, signed a letter labelling the e-mails the New York Post uncovered as having “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” (RELATED: ‘I Don’t Have Any Regrets’: Former CIA Director Defends Letter Calling Hunter Biden Laptop Russian Disinformation)

Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan that a “meaningful” percentage of people who would’ve otherwise seen the Post’s story didn’t due to Facebook labeling it potential disinformation. Zuckerberg alleged that Facebook took such action after the FBI warned the company of an incoming “Russian propaganda” dump.


Hunter Biden’s attorneys have apparently admitted to the authenticity of the “computer data” on his laptop.

Hunter Biden is set to appear in a Delaware court June 3 for gun charges after a Third Circuit panel of judges rejected his lawyers’ request for an appeal.

Hunter Biden is also facing nine federal tax charges — including tax evasion and tax fraud — after DOJ Special Counsel David Weiss found he allegedly “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million” in federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, according to the indictment. His lawyers also appealed that case, but Judge Mark Scarsi denied it. The trial is slated to take place June 20.