The order confirming paternity was issued last Tuesday. It refutedHunter’s denial last year— including saying he and the woman,Lunden Roberts, had not even had sex.
Still the case drags on: Both sides are set to return to court on Jan. 29 “for the purpose of addressing temporary child support for the minor child and other matters,” the presiding judge wrote recently. Permanent child support will be determined in May.
“That’s not common for a child support case to become this complex,” Roberts’ attorney Clint Lancaster tells PEOPLE. “It’s usually: Are you the child’s parent? Okay — how much are you going to pay for your kid? That’s not where we’re at. I can only speculate as to the reason why.”
An attorney for Hunter declined to comment beyond what was available in the court record. A spokesman for Hunter did not return a call.
Hunter Biden and Joe Biden.Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images
Paul Morigi/Getty Images
The court documents outline ongoing disputes between Hunter, 49, and Roberts, including Hunter’s concern that his personal and financial information could become public as part of the suit.
The two sides sharply disagree on whether Hunter’s intransigence is a stalling tactic — verging on contempt — or a reflection of his cautionafter being the target ofall manner of speculation, innuendo and insult.
In December, the court ordered both Roberts and Hunter to provide five years of tax returns and five years’ worth of financial documentation for any money they’d received. Hunter had said in a November filing that he was unemployed since May.
Roberts pressed Hunter for more extensive financial records, including about businesses he had owned. She also scheduled a deposition of Hunter on Dec. 23.
“Public disclosure of the deposition can only be for the purpose of continued annoyance or attempts to embarrass the Defendant,” Hunter’s attorney, Brent Langdon, wrote in December.
Hunter had some reason to be guarded: In recent months, two unrelated parties have sought to legally “intervene” in the suit, making explosive and unproven allegations about Hunter in filings with the court, all of which have since been stricken.
In December, Roberts asked the judge to compel Hunter to provide the financial information she sought.
The following week, she asked the judge to find him in contempt. “[I]t is clear that the defendant does not believe this Court’s orders apply to him and that he can do as he pleases,” her attorneys wrote.
In response to this, Roberts’ attorneys said in a motion on Friday that “the defendant should not make speculative, disreputable, and offensive allegations about the motives of the plaintiff.”
“There’s a lot of different ways that a person could have approached the situation,” Lancaster, Roberts’ lawyer, tells PEOPLE now. “Hunter Biden’s approach is not one of a great willingness to resolve these issues.”
RELATED VIDEO: Hunter Biden Slams Trump’s ‘Ridiculous Conspiracy Idea,’ Says Making President Angry Is ‘a Feather in My Cap’
Lancaster says there have been no meaningful settlement discussions.
“I think he has money, regardless of whether he says he doesn’t have a job, I think he’s got money and I think he could pay something that could settle this case,” Lancaster says of Hunter.
Last year multiple outlets published articles about Roberts’ alleged professional background and how she met Hunter, which PEOPLE has not been able to confirm.
Her attorney declined to comment on those reports, telling PEOPLE, “We don’t engage in gossip” and that saying anything more on the matter would not further Roberts’ one goal of securing child support.
Lancaster has said previously that Roberts, who is in her twenties, met Hunter in the Washington, D.C., area. Her attorneys said in court filings that she worked for Hunter and received money from him between May and November 2018. Lancaster says Hunter has not given her any money since that November.
Roberts’ suit stated that she and Hunter “were in a relationship” and had a child born in August 2018. Lancaster maintains that she is a “very, very private person.”
“This is a parenting and child support issue between her and Mr. Biden,” he said last year.
That hasn’t changed, he says this week, telling PEOPLE, “My client wants this thing resolved, she doesn’t want to be in the media, she doesn’t want paparazzi hanging out at her dad’s place of business hoping to get a shot of her.”
According to one of the motions filed on Roberts’ behalf in November, Hunter “refus[ed] to continue to support his child.” In an earlier motion in the case, Roberts’ attorneys said Hunter hadadmitted he was the father of her child— suggesting Roberts appealed to the court only when Hunter’s support ran dry.
He denied this.
From left: Melissa Cohen and Hunter Biden.BACKGRID
Hunter’s tumultuous personal life, including a surprise marriage, returned him to the headlines in 2019 at the same time as his dad launched a presidential bid — immediately becoming the leading contender to face President Trump.
Democratic lawmakers have said an investigation shows the Trump administration withheld support from Ukraine, including aid to fight Russia, until Ukraine agreed to the investigations. (The president adamantly denies wrongdoing.)
In June, Vice President Biden confirmed Hunter hadsecretly marriedSouth African filmmakerMelissa Cohenafter he earlier dated older brother Beau Biden’s widow,Hallie Biden, following Beau’s death from cancer in 2015.
The Daily Mail, a British tabloid,reported in Decemberthat Cohen was pregnant. Paparazzi photographed the couple — Cohen with a noticeable bump — while at lunch in Los Angeles last week.
According toThe New Yorker, he claimed he never had sex with Roberts.
Speaking with PEOPLE in November, Lancaster said his client wanted to move forward:
“Ms. Roberts is committed to Hunter Biden and his family having the best relationship with the child, whatever that may be, whenever they’re ready.”
source: people.com
