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Hunter Biden


LAWYERS FOR HUNTER BIDEN PLAN TO SUE FOX NEWS 'IMMINENTLY'

A letter obtained by NBC News says action is pending because of Fox’s alleged
"conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false
light."


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April 29, 2024, 12:45 PM EDT
By Sarah Fitzpatrick

Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News “imminently,” according to a
letter sent to the network and obtained by NBC News. 

The letter, dated April 23, puts the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital on
notice for litigation claims arising from the network’s alleged “conspiracy and
subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the
unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the
unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.” 




Biden has hired attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the Fox
litigation efforts. The letter is the second outreach to Fox this month. An
earlier letter was hand-delivered to Fox’s counsel two weeks ago, and the
network asked for more time to respond, according to a source familiar with
Biden’s legal efforts. The network has not yet responded to the letter sent
April 23, which included a Friday evening, April 26, deadline to respond,
according to Geragos. The letter is signed by Tina Glandian, a partner at
Geragos & Geragos working on the case.

President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden departs a court appearance on July 26,
2023, in Wilmington, Del.Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images
file

Fox News did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new threat of litigation comes almost a year after Fox News agreed to pay
almost $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle defamation
claims related to Fox’s airing of election fraud claims in the 2020 election.
Fox News also agreed to a $12 million settlement with a former employee who
alleged she was pressured to provide misleading information as part of the
Dominion case. 

Fox is currently facing a $2.7 billion lawsuit brought by Smartmatic, another
voting system company that was the focus of Fox News coverage, as well as suits
brought by shareholders against directors of the company for allowing the
channel to air the allegations during its 2020 election coverage. Fox said in
its latest financial disclosures that it will contest the lawsuits, but
acknowledges that there could be a “material” adverse impact on the company’s
business and financial position. 



The plan for Hunter Biden to pursue legal action against Fox News has been in
the works for over a year, according to sources familiar with Biden's legal
efforts, and was inspired in part by the success of the Dominion lawsuit and the
ongoing Smartmatic lawsuit. The effort took on new importance with the
revelations that the bribery allegations cited on air originated from the FBI
informant Alexander Smirnov, who was indicted by special counsel David Weiss in
February.



In a statement, Geragos said: “For the last five years, Fox News has
relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden and made him a caricature in order to boost
ratings and for its financial gain. The recent indictment of FBI informant
Smirnov has exposed the conspiracy of disinformation that has been fueled by
Fox, enabled by their paid agents and monetized by the Fox enterprise. We plan
on holding them accountable.”

Hunter Biden has been a focus of Fox News coverage for the last several years. A
review of network transcripts by the group Media Matters cites at least 13,440
mentions of Hunter Biden since January 2023. Biden’s legal team believes the
number of mentions over many years makes the potential case as significant if
not more so than the Dominion case, according to sources familiar with the legal
strategy.

The Biden letter specifically cites Fox’s advancement of bribery allegations by
Smirnov, who was indicted in February on charges of making false statements
about the Bidens to the FBI. “Smirnov and the post indictment revelations
basically closed the loop on the conspiracy,” Geragos told NBC News.



The letter alleges that Fox News knew that the bribery allegations were
unverified at the time but continued to report that the source was “highly
credible,” and demands corrections and retractions — including on-air statements
by television hosts “including Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, and Maria Bartiromo,
to inform their viewers on air that they have been sharing a debunked allegation
from a source who has been federally indicted.”


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The letter also alleges that Fox’s airing of “intimate images” belonging to
Hunter Biden that his lawyers claim were “hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated”
violates Biden’s civil rights as well as copyright law. Much of the letter is
focused on a six-part “mock trial” titled “The Trial of Hunter Biden” that aired
in October 2021, described by Fox as what a trial might look like if Biden was
charged with Foreign Agents Registration Act or bribery charges — neither of
which Biden has been charged with. “While using certain true information, the
series intentionally manipulates the facts, distorts the truth, narrates
happenings out of context, and invents dialogue intended to entertain. Thus, the
viewer of the series cannot decipher what is fact and what is fiction,” the
letter says. The letter demands that the series be removed from all streaming
services. 

This new litigation push comes as Biden prepares for a summer of criminal
trials. His trial on gun charges in Delaware starts June 3, and his tax case is
expected to go to trial in August.

Sarah Fitzpatrick

Sarah Fitzpatrick is a senior investigative producer and story editor for NBC
News. She previously worked for CBS News and "60 Minutes." 

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