Hunter Biden’s lawyers have cited travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus to get out of a court appearance in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the ongoing child support lawsuit against him, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Last week, the 50-year-old was ordered to be in Little Rock, Arkansas on Wednesday morning for his deposition in connection with a very public child support battle with former stripper Lunden Roberts, the mother of his child. Meanwhile, lawyers for Roberts have filed a motion to have Biden held in contempt of court for repeatedly refusing to obey court orders to provide financial documents in the case.
Biden met Roberts at the Mpire strip club in Washington, D.C. in 2016, according to Page Six. Their “love child” was reportedly born in August 2018, and DNA testing has confirmed that Biden is the father.
The Mpire Club is about three blocks north of another DC strip joint, Archibald’s Gentlemen’s Club, where The Post previously revealed that workers suspected Hunter, who has a history of alcoholism and addiction, of smoking crack in a VIP room in late 2018.
Biden’s attorney had previously told the court that his client would not be available to answer questions under oath until April. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Judge Holly Meyer rejected the claim that he was too busy to attend, saying: “He needs to make himself available and unless his hair is on fire, he needs to be in Arkansas and he needs to be in a deposition.”
His lawyers reportedly told Meyer on Tuesday that he would not be able to attend the deposition because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, and the approaching due date of his pregnant wife.
“Defendant requests continuance of the hearing as he is unavailable to attend due to his wife’s due date in 2 and a half weeks or less and risks involved with travel,” the new filing states.
The deadbeat dad’s lawyers also argued that being forced to appear in Arkansas was “burdensome and oppressive.”
“It is unsafe for the Defendant to travel, as travel restrictions have been implemented both domestically and internationally, particularly on airlines, due to the Coronavirus,” the filing states. “Setting aside personal endangerment, Defendant reasonably believes that such travel unnecessarily exposes his wife and unborn child to this virus. California, in particular, has been the site of numerous reported cases of exposure.”
The filing also makes the argument that the “intense media scrutiny” on Biden’s life due to his father Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has created “physical risks and logistics difficulties with travel.”
“The tremendously elevated media scrutiny creates some physical risks and logistics difficulties with travel to Arkansas, invades the privacy of the Defendant and his 8 and a half month pregnant wife, threatens to complicate the Court’s ability to conduct a public hearing, creates a highly prejudicial environment from Defendant, and cannot be in the child’s or his mother’s interest in any way,” the lawyers argue.
A temporary agreement on child support was reached in December but now the court is trying to determine how much Biden is worth before it rules on a final order.
Lawyers for Roberts on Friday filed a motion seeking to have Biden held in contempt of court for repeatedly refusing to obey the paternity and child support order to provide financial documents, including his 2017 and 2018 personal tax returns.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hunter Biden has also failed to disclose “all financial institutions used by him or a business he owns or controls;” “a list of all companies he currently owns or in which he has an ownership interest and the state in which those companies are incorporated;” “a list of all sources of income for the past five years;” “a list of all employers for the past five years;” tax documents for companies he owns and “a copy of deeds to properties that he owns or in which he has an ownership interest.”
“[T]he defendant continues to act as though he has no respect for this Court, its orders, the legal process in this state, or the needs of his child for support,” the motion declared, adding, “This Court should take some action that will make the defendant follow court orders and a believer in the rule of law.”