On February 9, under oath in a fee dispute deposition, Hunter Biden told the court: "I don't have any assets. I don't own a car. I don't own a phone."
On October 1, his lawyer filed a motion to make sure nobody else gets their hands on his $1.7 million.
The former first son won that $1.7 million in punitive damages after U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled in his favor in a defamation case against Patrick Byrne, the former Overstock.com chief executive. Byrne had claimed Biden sought an $800 million bribe from Iran. Judge Wilson determined the allegations were fabricated and entered a default judgment when Byrne failed to appear in court. Byrne is appealing, and has posted a $2.1 million bond to cover the verdict if he loses.
So there's real money sitting in a real account waiting for a man who swore under oath he has nothing.
The complication is Winston Taylor LLP, the law firm that previously represented Biden through the Byrne defamation case, congressional investigations, and his felony cases. The firm filed a lien against the $1.7 million judgment, claiming Biden never paid them. In a separate lawsuit in D.C. court, Winston Taylor says Biden owes them $17 million in accumulated legal fees. The firm's filings accuse Biden of destroying evidence, being "evasive," and making what they call "invalid excuses" for not paying.
Seventeen million dollars in legal bills. For a man with no assets.
Biden's current attorney, Brian Sullivan, filed to strike the lien on October 1. Sullivan said that the firm "took the case on knowing that he wasn't able to pay them." He added that Biden "hoped they could do a legal defense fund and raise money, but things didn't turn out."
So the defense is: they knew I was broke when they signed up. Which is an odd thing to say when you're simultaneously fighting to pocket $1.7 million.
Sullivan also argued that the contract Biden signed with Winston Taylor didn't properly disclose the consequences of a lien — a technical objection that might carry more weight if the client in question weren't a graduate of Yale Law School. Sullivan went further, distancing Biden from his most prominent former counsel: "It's not Abbe Lowell's lien. Abbe hasn't been there for a year and a half."
Winston Taylor LLP represented Biden through some of the most consequential legal proceedings of the last decade — congressional investigations, federal felony cases, and the defamation suit that produced this very judgment. Their reward was a client who, according to their own filings, destroyed evidence related to the fee dispute and stonewalled every attempt to collect.
Byrne's $2.1 million appeal bond means the money isn't going anywhere soon. But the fight over who gets it when it does tells you everything about how the Biden financial universe operates. You're broke when someone's billing you. You're flush when someone's paying you. The math changes depending on who's in the room.
