Hunter Biden to Sue Fox News for Defamation and 'Unlawful Publication of Hacked Intimate Images': Report
Lawyers representing Hunter Biden are preparing to sue Fox News for defamation in connection to the outlet’s reporting on the first son over the course of the past several years, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Hunter’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, reportedly issued Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital a letter on April 23 that put the parties on notice for litigation.
According to the letter, Hunter plans to sue Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital for the alleged “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light,” the alleged “unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness,” and the alleged and “unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.”
NBC News reported that the letter from Hunter’s lawyer to Fox News on April 23 was the second time President Joe Biden’s son’s legal team reached out to the outlet regarding their plans for litigation.
Hunter’s newly hired legal team reportedly hand-delivered another letter earlier this month. Fox News reportedly asked for more time to respond to the initial letter, and the outlet was ultimately given a response deadline of April 26.
It is unclear if Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital have yet to respond to the litigation notices.
Meanwhile, Hunter’s lawyer vowed to “hold [Fox News] accountable” in a recent statement regarding the anticipated lawsuit.
“For the last five years, Fox News has relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden and made him a caricature in order to boost ratings and for its financial gain,” Geragos said on Monday. “The recent indictment of FBI informant Smirnov has exposed the conspiracy of disinformation that has been fueled by Fox, enabled by their paid agents and monetized by the Fox enterprise.”
“We plan on holding them accountable,” the first son’s lawyer added.
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that President Biden’s son was inspired to sue Fox News after the outlet agreed to settle another defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in April 2023.
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Flash forward to this past February, and Hunter reportedly hired a legal team to represent him in the lawsuit shortly after an FBI informant named Alexander Smirnov was indicted by a special counsel.
Smirnov was indicted in February for making false statements about the Biden family to the FBI.
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Fox News cited Smirnov regularly when the outlet alleged that President Biden’s son was involved in bribery schemes that involved foreign agents. Smirnov’s indictment earlier this year suggested that the bribery allegations were unfounded.
“Smirnov and the post indictment revelations basically closed the loop on the conspiracy,” Hunter’s lawyer said in a statement to NBC News this week.
The letter issued by Hunter’s legal team to Fox News this month also reportedly demanded that the outlet issue “corrections and retractions” regarding the allegations against Hunter.
Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, and Maria Bartiromo were named in the letter, and the letter demanded that the three network stars “inform their viewers on air that they have been sharing a debunked allegation from a source who has been federally indicted.”
Hunter’s lawyers also claimed that Fox News violated the first son’s civil rights by airing “intimate images” of Hunter that were “hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated.”
The expected defamation lawsuit against Fox News comes as Hunter prepares to face trial for gun and felony tax charges. Hunter’s trial on gun charges is scheduled to start in Delaware on June 3, while his second trial is expected to kick off sometime in August.
Fox News Media has since released a statement regarding the letter issued to the network by Hunter's legal team earlier this month.
“Hunter Biden’s lawyers have belatedly chosen to publicly attack Fox News’ constitutionally protected coverage regarding their client," Fox News Media said. "Mr. Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of investigations by both the Department of Justice and Congress, has been indicted by two different US Attorney’s Offices in California and Delaware, and has admitted to multiple incidents of wrongdoing."
"Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered these highly publicized events as well as the subsequent indictment of an FBI informant who was the source of certain claims made about Mr. Biden.”