BATESVILLE, Ark.—Hunter Biden’s lawyers painted him as financially strapped in his first appearance in an Arkansas court on Monday, as he sought to get his child support payments to his former mistress and their four-year-old daughter reduced.
The president’s son, who made millions of dollars off deals and cushy board positions for foreign companies in the past decade, now has no salary, had his Porsche repossessed, and was forced to sleep on a cot in his father’s room during a recent presidential trip to Dublin, Biden’s lawyers told the court. He has also stooped to taking financial support from a generous friend, Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, the court heard on Monday.
Biden, wearing a tight-fitting dark navy suit, appeared dejected as he walked into the county court room in small-town Batesville, Arkansas, as a passing train whistled down the street. He was flanked by D.C. super lawyer Abbe Lowell, who recently joined Biden’s legal team in the custody case.
Lowell said Biden is paying Lunden Alexis Roberts $20,000 per month in child support under an agreement they reached in 2020, shortly after President Joe Biden launched his presidential campaign. Lowell said Biden has paid Roberts at least $750,000 over the past few years.
The hearing came days after Arkansas Circuit Court judge Holly Meyer ordered Biden and his child’s mother, Roberts, to appear for all future court dates, arguing that their absences are needlessly delaying the case. "I expect this case to get done," Meyer said on Monday. "I will run herd on you ladies and gentlemen until that happens."
Biden's lawyers objected to attempts by Roberts's team to frame him as privileged and wealthy, arguing that he has only traveled on Air Force One one time and "stayed on a cot in his dad's room in Dublin" during their recent Ireland visit. Biden no longer owns a Porsche, and his lawyer Brent Langdon indicated it was repossessed. Biden now drives an unspecified car given to him by celebrity lawyer Kevin Morris.
His lawyers did not respond to a Washington Free Beacon request for more information on the Porsche.
During the hearing, Biden’s lawyers said his only income is a percentage of his art sales from a New York gallery and that Biden is unable to provide a list of who has bought his paintings and how much they are worth. Lowell said Biden doesn’t know the names of any of the buyers under an agreement with the gallery, which is intended to avoid political influence-peddling.
Morris also gave Biden other financial assistance, according to a promissory note cited by Roberts’s legal team. When asked why, Lowell said, "I think the answer will be because he’s a friend and cares about the client."
The judge ordered both parties to turn over the requested records by May 12 and warned them that "incomplete answers are not answers."
"If you come saying you want to reduce your child support, you need to show me why," Meyer said.
Roberts's lawyers have previously taken issue with his attempt to reduce his child support, arguing that his team of high-priced attorneys shows he can afford the payments.
Biden has retained "some of the most expensive attorneys on planet Earth," according to a motion filed by Roberts last Thursday, including former Arkansas attorney general Dustin McDaniel, Lowell, and Morris.
"If Mr. Biden can afford a Washington DC, Hollywood, Chicago big law, and the best domestic relations attorney on the Texas side of the Texarkana border, he surely must have income for child support purposes," wrote Roberts’s attorney Clint Lancaster in the filing.
Biden's daughter with Roberts was born in 2019. He initially denied the baby was his, but a court-ordered paternity test showed he was the father. The Biden family does not publicly acknowledge the child. President Biden has repeatedly claimed—including last week—that he has just six grandchildren, omitting the four-year-old girl from the list.
Both parties have delayed turning over documents to the other side, including a number of financial records that Roberts has requested from Biden.
Hunter Biden has been ordered to appear at all future court dates.