Hunter Biden’s attorneys stepped up their legal offensive against top Trump allies on Friday, filing a countersuit over alleged dissemination of Biden’s electronic data and notifying a federal judge of their intention to seek testimony from Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani.
Court filings include a lawsuit against computer repair shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac who said Hunter Biden left a water-damaged laptop at his shop in Wilmington, Delaware, about 18 months before the 2020 election. Biden’s lawyers allege an invasion of privacy, arguing that Mac Isaac helped copy and distribute Hunter Biden’s data for political and commercial purposes.
In the lawsuit, Biden is seeking the return of all copies of his data, compensatory and punitive damages for Mac Isaac’s “willful, wanton and reckless conduct,” and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.
The counterclaim and responses to Mac Isaac’s original lawsuit cite public statements made by Mac Isaac, Bannon, Giuliani and others regarding their involvement in Hunter Biden’s electronic data. The new lawsuit alleges that Delaware law did not permit Mac Isaac to access or copy the data and distinguished between abandoned “equipment” and data on or embedded in a device.
Biden’s lawyers are also trying to remove Guo Wengui, a Bannon associate who allegedly helped disseminate Hunter Biden’s electronic records. Guo was arrested Wednesday by federal authorities in New York on charges related to a $1 billion fraud scheme, prosecutors say. He has pleaded not guilty.
Representatives from Mac Isaac, Giuliani, Bannon and Guo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hunter Biden’s legal team last month sent letters to 14 people, including Giuliani and Bannon, asking them to keep potential evidence for future lawsuits related to the alleged theft of personal information. Letters were also sent to the Department of Justice’s Department of National Security and the Delaware Attorney General’s Office requesting investigations into “persons who have reasonable grounds to believe have violated various federal statutes, by accessing, copying, tampering with and/or disseminating data on Mr. Biden’s personal computer.”
A spokesman for Hunter Biden’s legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s court filings, but previously told NBC News that the president’s son “has spent the last several years being the subject of investigations and an extensive media scrutiny.” , while he also told his story in a lengthy memoir — he has nothing to hide. The recipients of these letters are those who have yet to be held accountable for their wrongdoing.”
Hunter Biden and the Biden family finances are the subject of investigation led by Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the new chair of the GOP-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Hunter Biden’s finances — specifically his tax payments to the IRS — have been under investigation by federal prosecutors in Delaware since 2018.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Source : news.yahoo.com