We have been discussing the long litigation of the Hunter Biden to first deny that he is the father of a child in Arkansas and then, after DNA testing proved he is the father, to resist efforts to establish child custody. He is now facing a contempt sanction for refusing to answer questions about his net worth and, after repeated court filings, was scheduled for a March 11th with what seemed like no-excuses court order. Now however Biden has a novel claim. Indeed, it is novel coronavirus and the danger of traveling. Thus, he is not acting ultra vires as much as ultra virus. Update: The judge has denounced Hunter Biden’s effort at delay as yet another “duplicitous” filing.
Previously, Arkansas Circuit Judge Holly Meyer declared Biden to be the “biological and legal father” of a child he fathered with former GW student, 29-year-old Lunden Alexis Roberts. Roberts, reportedly was a stripper at a Washington, D.C., club that Biden liked to party with while in Washington. Biden long denied being the father and has refused to support the child. He also refused to turn over information on his assets, part of discovery that Meyer referred to as “past due.”
In the order, Meyer ordered the Arkansas Department of Health to issue a birth certificate listing Biden as the father. Biden has children by at least three different women. Roberts filed papers that portrayed him as a deadbeat father, stating that Biden “had no involvement in the child’s life since the child’s birth, never interacted with the child, never parented the child,” and “could not identify the child out of a photo lineup.”
Biden has opposed efforts to confirm his wealth to establish support for his child. Now, he is demanding yet another delay, citing the risk of the virus as well as his wife’s late pregnancy for yet another delay in answering questions needed about his wealth. His filing states
“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. Setting aside personal endangerment, Defendant reasonably believes that such travel unnecessarily exposes his wife and unborn child to this virus.”
Of course, his wife and child do not have to travel with him. Moreover, his concern for his unborn child has not been as evident with this born child in Arkansas. Finally, the CDC is not recommending that people not fly, particularly someone like Biden who is not in the high risk category. He could likely make the deposition and return in a single day while observing the recommendations for protecting himself from the virus like washing his hands.
Biden is also promising to file a letter from their doctor on the late pregnancy of his wife.
There is a suspicion that this self-quarantine is a tad opportunistic given Biden’s long effort to first deny his fathering this child and then oppose efforts to confirm his wealth for purposes of child support.