Turley
© Bonnie Cash/Getty ImagesGeorge Washington University Law School Professor Jonathan Turley
George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley said Friday that Hunter Biden's financial benefactor threatened to sue him for defamation.

Turley published a column on his website Friday and revealed that Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris's lawyer allegedly sent him a letter Wednesday warning him of a potential defamation lawsuit if Turley does not retract or stop repeating previous statements he made about Morris' representation of Biden.
"The letter warns that I could face a defamation action if I do not retract (or if I repeat) my criticism of Morris's representational relationship with Hunter. I will not issue a retraction despite the threats of Morris and Sullivan. I did, however, publish another column repeating my objections to Morris's blurry representational claims."
Turley's original column cited a section of California bar rules barring attorneys from paying business and personal expenses for prospective or existing clients. Morris's attorney, Bryan Sullivan, allegedly countered in the letter by citing a subsection of the law granting an exception for attorneys who agree to lend their client money after they sign a retainer.

Turley's most recent column counters Sullivan's assertion based on Morris's vague testimony about his legal relationship with Hunter Biden.

Turley asserts:
"There certainly are such exceptions or allowances but some of us reject their applicability to Morris or to these payments or loans. Indeed, we believe that Morris's ill-defined representational relationship is precisely what these rules strive to avoid. As discussed below, those concerns were magnified by Morris's recent deposition where he seemed to struggle to separate matters falling under his roles as friend, donor, investor, and lawyer.

"The second provision refers to a written agreement on payment that can be made, but notes that the agreement must be reached 'before making the loan or agreeing to do so.' As discussed below, it does not appear that such an agreement on the loans existed during part of the representational period."
Morris testified that he and Hunter Biden agreed to a retainer at some point in 2020 after their financial relationship began, according to a transcript reviewed by the Caller. He told lawmakers all of his financial support for Hunter Biden came in the form of loans due in 2025 and the payments began weeks after the pair met in November 2019.

Morris insisted he never expected anything in return from President Joe Biden or the Biden administration in exchange for his substantial financial support for Hunter Biden.

IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler previously testified to the House Ways and Means Committee that Morris paid an estimated $4.9 million of Hunter Biden's personal expenses from 2020-22. Morris was previously identified as the third party responsible for paying roughly $2 million of Hunter Biden's overdue taxes.

The failed guilty plea agreement between Hunter Biden and the Delaware U.S. Attorney's Office contains details about Morris' tax payment without naming him as the third party.

Morris' attorney wrote a letter to the House Oversight Committee Thursday informing them of $6.5 million of loans he sent to Hunter Biden from October 2021 to December 2023. CBS News first reported on the letter.

To read the letter go here.

His financial support for Hunter Biden covered his home, security, public relations, accountants, lawyers, payments to Hunter Biden's ex-wife, payments to the mother of Hunter Biden's love child and other expenses, according to Hunter Biden's federal tax indictment in California and Morris' testimony.

The tax indictment says Morris gave Hunter Biden $1.2 million of financial support from January to October 2020 without naming Morris directly. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the federal tax charges on Jan. 11.

The indictment reads:
"In that period, he received financial support from Personal Friend totaling approximately $1.2 million. The financial support included hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments for, among other things, housing, media relations, accountants, lawyers, and his Porsche."
In addition, Morris bought $875,000 worth of Hunter Biden's art and purchased his stake in holding company Skaneateles, which owns a 10% stake in Chinese investment firm BHR Partners.

Conservative legal group America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint against Morris with the California State Bar on Jan. 16, accusing him of violating the state's professional conduct rules in his relationship with Biden.

Morris testified in front of the Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees, the three panels leading the House GOP's impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden focusing on his son's foreign business dealings and IRS whistleblower accusations of special treatment for Hunter Biden throughout the Department of Justice's criminal investigation.

Turley was one of the expert witnesses for the first impeachment inquiry hearing in September about the Biden family's foreign business enterprise.

House Republicans and Hunter Biden agreed to have him testify on Feb. 28.