A staffer in the office of Hunter's attorney Chris Clark (left) is accused of calling the Delaware clerk pretending to be from Kittila's office, and asked the clerk to remove his original filing. The alleged trickster is New York-based Latham & Watkins litigation services director Jessica Bengels (right)
Hunter Biden's lawyers claim 'fake phone call' attempt to remove papers from court docket was 'unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication'Hunter Biden's lawyers have responded to allegations that they conspired to lie to a court clerk in the First Son's criminal case in Delaware by saying the incident was simply an 'unfortunate misunderstanding.'
Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika had ordered the First Son's attorneys to explain themselves by 9pm Tuesday or be sanctioned.
Just before the deadline, Hunter's Latham & Watkins lawyer Matthew Salerno filed a response claiming the incident was down to 'an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication.'
It was alleged that Hunter's lawyers sought to remove testimony from IRS whistleblowers about the Justice Department's lackluster criminal investigation into his tax offenses from the court docket.'The matter under consideration appears to stem from an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication between a staff member at our firm and employees of the Court. We have no idea how the misunderstanding occurred, but our understanding is there was no misrepresentation,' Salerno wrote to Judge Noreika on Tuesday evening.
He claimed that Jessica Bengels, the Latham staffer accused of pretending to be from another law firm, has a phone number which should show up as 'LATHAM' on the clerk's caller ID.
Salerno attached an affidavit from Bengels, in which she claimed she initially called a different court clerk, 'Julia', from her Latham phone, identified herself truthfully, but was later called back by the first clerk, Samantha.
'At around 11.54am, another Court employee called my Latham & Watkins phone number (which I believe she knew through caller ID) to let me know she would be removing the material from the docket,' Bengels wrote. 'She did not ask which law firm I was affiliated with, and at no time during this call did I mention anything about my law firm affiliation.
'I believe there may have been some confusion when Julia passed the information on to the other Court employee, resulting in a mistaken understanding that I had called from Mr. Kittila's firm.
'I am completely confident that I never indicated that I was calling from Mr. Kittila's firm or that I worked with him in any way.'
Earlier today, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith filed a brief to Judge Noreika, suggesting that she toss Hunter's
'sweetheart' plea deal with Delaware prosecutors due to claims they gave the President's son preferential treatment.
It is claimed that someone from Hunter's attorney Chris Clark's former law firm later called the Delaware clerk - pretending to be from the office of Smith's attorney, Theodore Kittila - asking them to remove the original filing and, with it, 448 pages of Congressional testimony from the two
IRS investigators who worked on the case.
The documents were then taken down and sealed.
Kittila, quickly filed a second outraged letter to the judge.
'We promptly contacted the clerk's office, and we were advised that someone contacted the court representing that they worked with my office and that they were asking the court to remove this from the docket,' Kittila wrote to the judge.
'We immediately advised that this was inaccurate.'
In a fiery email exchange with Kittila about the apparent skullduggery, Hunter's lawyer Clark hit back, denying any improper conduct and claiming 'the clerk took the filing down on their own accord'.
But the top Republican's lawyer included in his filing a copy of an email from the Delaware clerk, backing up his claims.
'The woman who called was a Jessica Bengels,' he wrote adding her phone number.
'She said she worked with Theodore Kittila and it was important the document was removed immediately,' the clerk, Sam Grimes, wrote to Kittila.
According to Grimes's email, the alleged trickster is New York-based Latham & Watkins litigation services director Jessica Bengels.
Bengels' LinkedIn page says she has been 'litigation services counsel' at the firm since January 2023, and has worked there since 2006. She went to Brown University then Fordham law school.
Clark worked for Latham & Watkins up until April this year.
© Sam GrimesA top Republican's lawyer included in his filing a copy of an email from the Delaware clerk Sam Grimes, backing up his claims. 'The woman who called was a Jessica Bengels,' he wrote adding her phone number
In a fiery email exchange with Kittila about the apparent skullduggery, Hunter's lawyer Clark hit back, denying any improper conduct and claiming 'the clerk took the filing down on their own accord'
Hunter's lawyers claim that the filing contained 'personal tax information' and should be sealed, despite the same documents being publicly released online by the House Ways and Means Committee a month ago.
'Your attempts to publicly file my client's personal financial information with no protections are improper, illegal and in violation of applicable rules,' Clark wrote to Kittila. 'I stand by all of my statements.'
Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika ordered the First Son's attorneys to explain themselves by 9pm today or be sanctioned
Judge Noreika appeared displeased, issuing an order on Tuesday afternoon over the alleged dirty trick giving Hunter's lawyers just hours to justify themselves.
'It appears that the caller misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the clerk's office to remove the amicus materials from the docket,' the order said.'Therefore, it is hereby ordered that, on or before 9pm today on July 25, 2023, counsel for defendant shall show cause as to why sanctions should not be considered for misrepresentations to the court.'
However, Noreika also placed a temporary seal on Chairman Smith's filing, meaning it will not be public until after Hunter's plea hearing on Wednesday.
Mike Howell, director of conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, told DailyMail.com that the latest twist in the courtroom saga was 'crazy' and the alleged actions of Clark's firm 'reek of desperation'.
'Something crazy is happening right now in the Hunter Biden case,' he said.
'The judge ordered the sealing of transcripts that have been publicly available on the House website for over a month and which a House Committee voted to release in compliance with applicable rules.'The courageous whistleblowers did the right thing in the right way - they provided sworn testimony protected under U.S. law.'If anyone lied to the court, they need to be punished. Otherwise, we can only expect the same behavior in the future. It is unbelievable that we are dealing with these 11th-hour procedural shenanigans that reek of desperation.'Heritage Oversight will be there in person to observe these proceedings on behalf of the American people,' Howell vowed.
Clark has previously engaged in unusual methods for a high-powered lawyer - including in responses to DailyMail.com.
In August last year, before publishing a story about Joe Biden meeting in the White House with two Chinese energy executives, as well as 14 other meetings with business partners and associates of Hunter, we contacted Clark for comment.
He responded shortly after 9pm that evening with a near-unintelligible email.
'Please quote me,' he wrote. 'Josh you are a parasite who lives of other peoples difficulties. Your parents won't mount you.
'Pls include an explaination from 'news corp' lawyers of you exclude this comment this from your as to why you have done so after asking. Me fo my comment. Please'
Clark, who has previously specialized in media industry cases, appeared to be under the mistaken impression that DailyMail.com is a News Corp company, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. DailyMail.com is in fact owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust.
These creeps are above justice