While battling uncooperative Hunter Biden, House GOP seeks his financials from paternity case

While House Republicans press contempt of Congress charges against an uncooperative Hunter Biden, their chief impeachment investigator revealed Tuesday he is pursuing an unconventional but potentially explosive avenue for evidence on the first family's finances: sealed court records from a paternity case.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer revealed to Just the News that his team is seeking to get an Arkansas judge to release records of Hunter Biden's finances submitted in the state paternity case brought by an Arkansas woman named Lunden Roberts who gave birth to his youngest daughter Navy Joan. 

While some of the paternity case records are public, including some testimony, other records with references about Hunter Biden's finances were ordered to remain sealed after the case was settled last summer. The records are believed to provide an unprecedented window into Hunter Biden's financials during a period from 2019 to 2023 when the first son was down on his luck while recovering from drug addiction while his father Joe Biden ran for president, won, and assumed control of the White House.

"We would love to have that information. That's something that we certainly need in our investigation," Comer, R-Ky., said during a wide-ranging interview on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show. "And we're going to do whatever we can legally to try to obtain that information.

"That's very valuable information to our investigation, because it details income. And that's why it's important. We're again trying to figure out what what this family did to receive money from our enemies around the world and how much money did they in fact receive," he added.

Comer made the revelation just hours before the Oversight and Judiciary Committees in the House begin marking up a resolution Wednesday that would hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for failing to sit for a transcribed interview as required by a subpoena.

The Arkansas paternity case has been a source of evidence previously.  IRS and FBI agents obtained some of the information for their eventual tax evasion case against Hunter Biden by interviewing witnesses in the Roberts paternity cases, according to government officials. That probe resulted in tax evasion charges that were filed late last year in California, including three felonies and six misdemeanors,

Congressional investigators have been in contact with lawyers involved in the case, according to sources interviewed by Just the News.

Testimony reviewed by Just the News in the case shows the court had access to records showing that Hunter Biden received substantial aid from Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, a Democrat donor who befriended Hunter Biden at a fund-raiser for his father in late 2019. Kevin Morris eventually represented Hunter Biden in some matters.

Just the News reported late last year that Kevin Morris provided as much as $5.3 million in financial assistance to Hunter Biden since 2020 that are covered by loan agreements. Morris also purchased at least one painting from Hunter Biden's art gallery, records show.

Joseph Ziegler, the lead IRS agent in the first son's tax case, subsequently told Congress he was aware of at least $4.9 million in bills and assistance that Morris paid on behalf of Hunter Biden.

Comer told Just the News on Tuesday that Morris' assistance may also have included a total of $875,000 in additional purchases of the first son's artwork, putting the total help from the Hollywood lawyer to Hunter Biden at closer to $6 million. 

The judge in the paternity case raised concerns about the nature and size of Morris' assistance to Hunter Biden during one open-court hearing in May 2023, just before the case was settled.

The promissory notes and the fact that Morris bought one of Hunter Biden’s art paintings were discussed openly in the courtroom. When pressed, Hunter Biden lawyer Abbe Lowell told the court he believed Morris’ generosity was driven by friendship.

“I think the answer will be because he’s a friend,” he told the court. The judge snapped back: “Well that’s a pretty lame answer.”

You can read that transcript here.

230501_Roberts-Biden_May_1st_Transcript.pdf

The judge then ordered that more information be disclosed to the court, according to the transcript. “I think the reason is relevant,” the judge declared, demanding he provide more insight into the “inquiries regarding Kevin Morris, promissory notes, money from friends.”