Hunter Biden says he's a struggling artist living on a budget. But business records and emails indicate his attorney controls his valuable assets as he argues in court that he can't come up with the child support payments for his four-year-old daughter.
Business records reveal that Biden's stake in a Chinese private equity firm called BHR is now controlled by the Hollywood super lawyer Kevin Morris, who is paying for one of Biden's cars, according to court proceedings on Monday.
The revelation casts doubt on the first son's claim that he divested from his foreign business interests after his father, President Joe Biden, pledged that his family members would do so. Hunter Biden's legal team told the New York Times in November 2021 that he "no longer holds any interest, directly or indirectly, in either BHR" or in his own firm, Skaneateles.
Morris's control of Skaneateles, which holds Biden's 10 percent stake in the Chinese private equity firm, also raises the possibility that the first son handed off his piece of the firm as payment for legal representation as he engages in a bitter court battle over custody payments to the young daughter he has worked to disclaim.
Biden was in court on Monday working to reduce his child-support obligations to his onetime mistress, Lunden Alexis Roberts, after telling the Arkansas court he cannot afford the payments. Roberts's lawyer on Thursday cast doubts on the claim, making a motion to have Biden disclose who funds his "stable of American super lawyers."
"Mr. Biden claims to be nothing more than a Yale-educated attorney/artist who is somewhat financially destitute and needs his child support adjusted," Roberts's attorney, Clint Lancaster, wrote in the filing. "However, for an artist living on meager means, Mr. Biden is living lavishly."
Biden has Morris to thank for that lavish life, at least in part. A Democratic donor and big-time Hollywood attorney whose clients include Chris Rock and Matthew McConaughey, Morris reportedly pays Biden's rent and living expenses in Los Angeles and has loaned him over $2 million to help pay his overdue taxes, according to the Daily Mail. Known among Biden's inner circle as his "sugar brother," Morris has also advised Biden on how to structure his art sales, according to the New York Post.
Records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show an amended joint venture contract for BHR Partners that identifies Morris as the managing member of Biden's LLC. It is not clear when the transfer of interest from Hunter Biden to Morris occurred. While the contract revealing the transfer is undated, BHR executive Heng-Yin Zhang on April 20 emailed longtime Biden associate James Bulger with "signing instructions" for a contract stipulating that Morris controlled Biden's 10 percent share in BHR.
BHR Partners is co-owned by the Beijing-controlled Bank of China and manages $2.1 billion in assets. The BHR Partners amended joint venture contract was first obtained by the nonprofit investigative group Marco Polo. Morris did not return a request for comment.
Biden's share of BHR Partners stems from a $420,000 investment made in October 2017 through his personal company, Skaneateles LLC. Less than two years later, his interest in the company had swollen to an estimated $894,000, according to a March 2019 email from his former business partner, Eric Schwerin.
Biden attorney Chris Clark did not return requests for comment.