Lawyers: 'Maybe It's Time The World Knows What Mr. Biden Is Paying'
Attorney Abbe Lowell shared the previously undisclosed figure during proceedings in which Judge Holly Meyer directed Biden to answer several questions about his current finances. Biden reopened the paternity case last September in an attempt to reduce his child support payments for Navy Joan, whom Biden has not yet met. Lowell told the court on Monday, "Maybe it's time the world knows what Mr. Biden is paying," in reference to the large sum already spent on child support.
Biden is alleging that he has experienced a "substantial material change" in his financial situation, though representatives for Roberts argue that "Mr. Biden claims to be nothing more than a Yale educated attorney/artist who is somewhat financially destitute and needs his child support adjusted. However, for an artist living on meager means, Mr. Biden is living lavishly."
Roberts' lawyer Clinton Lancaster noted for the court that Abbe Lowell, one of Biden's representatives, "charges a rate of $855 per billable hour," arguing that Lowell's presence in the case was "indicative of [Biden's] influence, prestige, and importance."
Lancaster continued, "The defendant has characterized his need for a reduction in child support on his reduced income. However, voluntarily reducing income, or hiding assets, is not a basis for a reduction in support."
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Only The Latest In Biden's Paternity Woes
Lunden Roberts initially filed a paternity suit against Biden in Arkansas back in 2019, after the businessman denied fathering Roberts' daughter during their brief affair. When DNA tests confirmed that Hunter was indeed Navy Joan's father, he started paying monthly child support—allegedly agreeing to a payment totaling around $2.5 million for the little girl.
After Biden requested the court recalculate his monthly payments last fall, Roberts fought back, demanding Biden's financial records and rejecting the notion that he's somehow fallen on hard times. Roberts' attorney also accused Biden of hiding the full extent of his holdings: "The plaintiff has evidence that the defendant has not fully disclosed his income sources, residences, assets, and property...This evidence is bolstered by the fact that the defendant refuses to provide full discovery in this matter."
Both Biden and Roberts are set to give their depositions in the case in mid-June; a trial to determine whether Biden's child support payments will be reduced is scheduled to begin in July.
Neither Hunter Biden nor his father, President Joe Biden, have ever publicly acknowledged Navy Joan as part of the Biden family.