Hunter Biden arrives in court for child support hearing
Fox News' Bill Hemmer provides details on the case as Hunter Biden seeks to lower his child support payments.
Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, appeared in person in an Arkansas courtroom Monday for a hearing in the child support case of his unclaimed 4-year-old daughter born out of wedlock.
Lunden Roberts, the mother of 4-year-old Navy Joan Roberts, had reached an agreement with Hunter Biden in 2020 for the child's paternity and child support payments.
The case was reopened when Biden requested adjustments to the child support payments. In December, Roberts's lawyers filed a motion to have the girl's last name changed to Biden.
During Monday's hearing, Biden's new attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the president's son is paying $20,000 a month to the plaintiff.
Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer set deadlines for attorneys to submit discovery and begin depositions.
"I expect this case to move," she said. "So, get it done."
In court, Biden appeared to blankly stare ahead and had no interaction with Roberts.
Hunter Biden appeared in person in an Arkansas courtroom with regard to a paternity case. (Getty Images / File)
Roberts’ family sat behind her along with Garrett Ziegler, whom Biden’s other attorney, Brent Langdon, described during a hearing last week as a potential expert witness in the case involving the contents of Biden's laptop, which reportedly includes some income tax records.
The judge on Monday said the ability to redact information is "being abused" by the Biden team.
Langdon cited last week’s Daily Mail article on the case, claiming it included redacted information in violation of a protective order in exposing income tax records. Meyer disagreed and said what the press comes up with is out of her control, remarking, "I can’t gag the whole world."
Roberts’ attorney, Clint Lancaster, told the court he has not talked to the Daily Mail, explaining to Ziegler the doom and gloom that would come on him if he discussed the case.
From the Biden team, Lancaster requested information on the value of Biden’s art, his salary/employment for the past five years, estates/funds from foreign persons/domestic persons/family members, flight/hotel payments, the reason for a promissory note from top Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, and documents on business done with a Chinese firm.
In response, Langdon said his team has already turned over more than 490 documents. Biden’s attorney also requested Roberts’ tax returns, information on "fringe benefits" from her employer father, bank statements and Ziegler’s witness statements.
The deadline for discovery was set for May 12 at 5 p.m.
Ziegler’s deposition is to take place on May 22 at Lancaster’s office in Little Rock.
A status conference hearing will be held on May 23 to address discovery requests, any contempt filings and a potential request to push back the trial date. Deposition for both parties and witnesses will take place June 13-16 at Lancaster's office.
As of now, the trial start date is set for July 24.
Last week, the judge ruled that Biden and Roberts must be present for every future hearing in the case.
"The Biden name is now synonymous with being well-educated, successful, financially acute, and politically powerful," Roberts' attorneys wrote in the December name-change motion.
In rebuttal, Biden’s attorney demanded "strict proof thereof that such request is in the best interest of the child."
In a January 2020 order, Meyer declared "with near scientific certainty" that Biden is the father of the girl, referred to in court documents as "Baby Doe," following a DNA test.
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The girl was born in August 2018, and a paternity suit was initially filed in May 2019.
President Biden has refused to acknowledge the granddaughter born out of wedlock. Last Christmas season, first lady Jill Biden hung stockings for six of their grandchildren at the White House, excluding Navy. Those recognized were Naomi, 27, Finnegan, 21, Maisy, 20, Natalie, 17, Robert Hunter Biden II, 15, and Beau, 1.
Fox News' Lindsey Reese contributed to this report.
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