Lawyer For Hunter Biden Benefactor Says Rep. James Comer Misrepresented His Testimony

WASHINGTON ― Home Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) misrepresented testimony by Kevin Morris, a buddy of Hunter Biden’s who sat for a deposition on Thursday, based on Morris’s legal professional.

Morris, a rich leisure lawyer, spoke to lawmakers for a number of hours as a part of the Republican impeachment inquiry in opposition to President Joe Biden. Morris has loaned the president’s son tens of millions of {dollars}.

“Kevin Morris’s large monetary assist to Hunter Biden raises moral and marketing campaign finance issues for President Joe Biden,” Comer stated in a press release accompanying a abstract of the interview.

Comer described Morris’s assist for the president’s son as a scheme “to insulate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden from political legal responsibility.”

In a letter to the Oversight Committee obtained by HuffPost, Bryan Sullivan, an legal professional for Morris, took challenge with Comer’s characterization and demanded he launch a full transcript of the interview.

“Not two hours after we left Mr. Morris’ transcribed interview, you issued a press assertion with cherry‐picked, out of context and completely deceptive descriptions of what Mr. Morris stated,” Sullivan wrote.

Hunter Biden himself defied a Republican subpoena for a closed-door deposition final month, insisting {that a} public listening to would stop deceptive spin ― primarily the identical situation Sullivan is complaining about. However Biden modified his thoughts final week and can sit for a high-stakes deposition on the finish of subsequent month.

Sullivan stated Morris solely cared about defending his buddy, whom he met in 2019 because the youthful Biden recovered from a long-running drug habit and launched a second profession as an artist.

Comer stated Morris reported having loaned the president’s son $5 million, and he questioned whether or not Morris anticipated to get the cash again. “These ‘loans’ don’t need to be repaid till after the following presidential election, and the ‘loans’ might in the end be forgiven,” Comer stated.

“On the contrary, Mr. Morris repeatedly testified he truly loaned the cash to Mr. Hunter Biden, that these loans have been reviewed by attorneys for every of them, that they’ve correct mortgage phrases equivalent to curiosity and a time period, and that he anticipated Mr. Hunter Biden to repay these loans,” Sullivan wrote.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the highest Democrat on the Oversight Committee, advised HuffPost earlier on Thursday, throughout a dialog exterior the deposition room, that Morris stated the loans have been loans, not items.

“These are loans that he absolutely expects to be repaid,” Raskin stated. “And it’s utterly customary phrases that have been drawn up by his attorneys in session with Hunter Biden’s attorneys.”

In keeping with Comer’s readout, there was no written settlement when Morris first gave Hunter Biden cash in 2020, and the mortgage phrases have been written up “properly after” the very fact.

Raskin and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) identified that Morris has cooperated with federal prosecutors pursuing prices in opposition to Hunter Biden for having didn’t pay his taxes on time for a number of years. Morris has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Charging paperwork in opposition to Biden say an unnamed “private buddy” has since 2020 supplied “substantial monetary assist together with roughly $200,000 to hire a lavish home on a canal in Venice, California; $11,000 in funds for his Porsche; and different particular person objects.”

Comer stated that by supporting the president’s son, Morris has “had entry to the Biden White Home and has spoken to President Biden.”

Sullivan known as the declare deliberately deceptive, saying Morris “testified that he has solely had cursory communications with President Biden at public occasions like Mr. Biden’s daughter’s marriage ceremony, and stated fundamental courtesy issues as ‘hey’ and ‘how are you’ and President Biden making feedback about Mr. Morris’ unkempt hair model that lasted a couple of minutes.”

An analogous dynamic performed out after the Oversight Committee interviewed Devon Archer, a former enterprise companion of Hunter Biden’s, final 12 months. Comer claimed Archer stated {that a} Ukrainian gasoline firm, which had employed each him and Hunter Biden, requested Biden to get his dad, who was vp on the time, to push for the ouster of a Ukrainian prosecutor. When the transcript got here out, it confirmed Archer truly stated “that didn’t occur.”

The firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor has been a longstanding ― and long-debunked ― corruption allegation in opposition to Joe Biden. Fairly than pursue interviews with State Division officers with data of the episode, Republicans this month sat down with Hunter Biden’s artwork seller and his rich buddy.