Denying that he failed to follow the court's orders, Hunter Biden is asking the judge in an Independence County paternity suit to deny a motion of contempt that targeted him.
The father of a 16-month-old baby "states to the extent possible that he has complied with the Court's orders," according to a response filed Wednesday at the courthouse in Batesville.
Signed by Biden's attorney, Brent Langdon, the document criticized what it described as the "continued histrionics" of the plaintiff, Lunden Alexis Roberts. It also objected to the inclusion of an exhibit that was attached to Roberts' Dec. 23 motion for contempt because it included Biden's home address.
The document, a Dec. 6 letter from Circuit Judge Don McSpadden, informed Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, that he'd been ordered to submit an affidavit of financial means and stressed the need for him to comply.
McSpadden, who recused from the case without explanation on Dec. 31, has been replaced by Circuit Judge Holly Meyer.
Roberts alleged, in her Dec. 23 motion, that Biden had failed to comply with McSpadden's written instructions. She asked the judge to hold him in contempt.
In response Wednesday, Biden argued that "written correspondence from the Court to a litigant is not enforceable by contempt."
Being "well aware" of this fact, Roberts nonetheless included the letter in her contempt filing, Biden's response stated.
Roberts' "apparent motivation [for] attaching the Court's correspondence" to the contempt motion was the desire to disclose "to the media and political adversaries associated with the 'Where's Hunter?' campaign of his address," it alleged.
"Such intentional disclosure to the media and political adversaries of the Defendant's address has resulted in an onslaught of harassment of the Defendant and his wife," it said.
Reached for comment, Roberts' attorney denied that Biden's address had been included to further a "Where's Hunter" campaign. Biden's home address was already available in the court record, the attorney, Clint Lancaster, said.
Biden's original legal team had withdrawn from the case on Dec. 2. His new attorney of record didn't appear until Dec. 9, court records show.
During the period in between, information about the case was mailed directly to Biden, Lancaster said.
The Dec. 6 letter from McSpadden was sent to Biden's California address. So was a Dec. 6 notice of deposition, court records show.
Under the Arkansas rules of civil procedure, attorneys must state the name and address of the person being served in order for service by mail to be valid, Lancaster noted, pointing to Rule 5(e).
"Mail to a litigant goes to his or her address," Lancaster said in a text message to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Hunter Biden is not special and his address is not magical."
Roberts, 28, filed the paternity suit against Biden, 49, in May, seeking a determination of paternity as well as child support. A DNA test, conducted in November, showed "with near scientific certainty" that he is the father of a baby, Meyer declared in Tuesday's paternity order.
A graduate of Arkansas State University, Roberts later took courses at George Washington University. While in Washington, D.C., she met Biden, according to her attorney.
Roberts has asked the court to award her child support. But Biden told the court in a signed Nov. 27 affidavit that he is unemployed and hasn't had a monthly income since May.
Questions about Hunter Biden's finances, employment history and previous substance abuse have been raised by Republicans during the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
He has defended his past business dealings, portraying criticism as politically motivated. His father, Joe Biden, is the top-polling candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Metro on 01/10/2020