The Benton lawyer who filed a paternity suit against Joe Biden's son said Tuesday he wants the former vice president's help in getting a DNA sample to prove paternity.
Clint Lancaster of the Lancaster Law Firm said his firm has been unable to find Biden's son, Hunter, to serve him with notice of the suit. And Lancaster says he's tried to get through to someone in Joe Biden's campaign. Joe Biden is a Democratic candidate for president.
Lancaster contends Joe Biden has a granddaughter in Independence County -- where the suit was filed -- and ought to be concerned about his son's failure to financially support the baby.
The New Yorker magazine reported Monday that Hunter Biden, 49, denies ever "having sexual relations" with the woman who filed the suit, 28-year-old Lunden Alexis Roberts.
Nonetheless, he has failed to take a DNA test, Lancaster said.
A medical expert who works with the law firm is prepared to fly anywhere in the United States to take DNA swabs from Hunter Biden or Joe Biden if either man is willing, Lancaster added. He said the genetic material from either man would be enough to establish Hunter Biden as the father.
Hunter Biden's attorney, George Mesires of Chicago, declined to comment about the substance of the dispute when reached Tuesday evening. His nonresponse was "off the record," he added.
The Biden campaign didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The former vice president and his family aren't responding to the messages Lancaster left with the campaign, though Lancaster has email tracking software indicating they've been opened or forwarded and reopened dozens of times, the attorney said.
"We have a Biden family member in Arkansas, and I think that can't be ignored," Lancaster said. "I personally wonder how Mr. Biden expects to be elected president when he doesn't care for his own family."
Lancaster's public appeal to Biden comes five weeks after legal action was initiated.
On May 28, Roberts filed a petition for paternity and child support against Robert Hunter Biden, days after he married another woman in California.
The two-page suit states Roberts and Hunter Biden "were in a relationship" and "Baby Doe" was born in August 2018 "as a result of that relationship."
The petition doesn't indicate whether Hunter Biden has any ties to the state.
The paternity case has been assigned to 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Don McSpadden. No court date has been set.
Roberts is asking the court to establish Biden is the baby's biological father, award child support and require Biden to provide health insurance for the infant; out-of-pocket health care expenses would be evenly divided, according to the filing. The mother is also seeking fees, costs and "all other just and proper relief."
Thus far, the suit is in limbo because Biden has dropped out of sight, Lancaster said.
Biden's new wife, 32-year-old Melissa Cohen, is reportedly a filmmaker from South Africa.
Process servers still haven't found Biden to serve him with a copy of the lawsuit. Mesires has also declined to make his client available, Lancaster added.
In Arkansas, defendants are supposed to be served with the summons and a copy of the lawsuit within 120 days of its filing, though judges sometimes grant extensions for good cause.
On Monday, The New Yorker ran a lengthy profile of Hunter Biden. Based on what it described as "weeks of conversations," it outlined his previous cocaine and alcohol abuse, his international business dealings, his past marital difficulties and his close ties to his father.
The article, which included a photo of the newlyweds taken in California, contained one paragraph addressing the paternity action: "[Hunter Biden] was recently sued for child support by an Arkansas woman, Lunden Alexis Roberts, who claims that he is the father of her child. (Hunter has denied having sexual relations with Roberts.)"
Biden, who has spent most of his life on the East Coast, was born in Wilmington, Del. His father was a U.S. senator for that state from 1973 to 2009. Joe Biden, who entered the 2020 presidential race in April, is leading the Democratic field in early polling.
A graduate of Georgetown University and the Yale Law School, Hunter Biden is a member of the bar in Connecticut and the District of Columbia, and has worked as an attorney, lobbyist and a private equity investment partner.
For a time, he served on Amtrak's board.
Roberts, originally from Batesville, played on the Arkansas State University women's basketball team and graduated from the school in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies.
Afterward, she took classes at George Washington University. While studying in the capital, she met Biden, Lancaster said.
Roberts has declined requests for interviews. Last month, Roberts' attorney said her motivation isn't political.
"She really does not want this to be a media spectacle. She does not want this to affect Joe Biden's campaign. She just wants this baby to get financial support from the baby's father," Lancaster added.
NW News on 07/04/2019