Merrick Garland and DOJ face lawsuit over Hunter Biden’s unregistered foreign agent status.
Lawsuit Filed Against Attorney General Merrick Garland and DOJ Over Hunter Biden’s Alleged Failure to Register as a Foreign Agent
A lawsuit was filed on Tuesday against Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding allegations that the agency failed to enforce the requirement for Hunter Biden to register as a foreign agent.
The conservative group, America First Legal, stated in its suit that the DOJ and Mr. Garland had a responsibility to ensure that President Joe Biden’s son registered with the agency while serving on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings Limited.
The group, founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, also argued that Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Chinese oil magnate Ye Jianming should have required him to register as a foreign agent. The lawsuit (pdf) referenced alleged text messages from Hunter Biden in which he discussed setting up a “separate entity” called “CEFC America” to avoid registering as a foreign agent during the Obama Administration.
Hunter Biden served as a board member of Burisma starting in April 2014 when his father was vice president under President Barack Obama. Emails obtained by America First in March from the National Archives and Records Administration suggest that Hunter Biden claimed to be a legal adviser to the Ukrainian company and an attorney with a law firm representing it.
The complaint stated that the FBI had obtained Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2019, providing the Department of Justice with knowledge that he was a foreign agent for Ukrainian and Chinese principals. However, the DOJ failed to require him to register or initiate a waiver rulemaking process.
Gene Hamilton, AFL vice president and general counsel, emphasized that evidence gathered by the group indicates that Hunter Biden used his access and position for the benefit of foreign principals. Hamilton criticized the Department of Justice for not holding Hunter Biden accountable, stating, ”Any other American would have been criminally prosecuted for failing to register as a foreign agent for this conduct—but not under Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice, which continues to go out of its way to help President Biden, his family, and his radical liberal allies. The Attorney General has a non-discretionary duty to ensure that Hunter Biden registers as a foreign agent under FARA and provides the American people with transparency into his activities on behalf of foreign principals.”
In March, America First Legal submitted a complaint urging the DOJ and Mr. Garland to enforce FARA by mandating Hunter Biden’s registration.
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