Hunter Biden to take 'imminent' legal action against Fox News for defamation

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Lawyers representing Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, are preparing to file a lawsuit against Fox News "imminently," according to a letter obtained by NBC News. The letter, dated April 23, accuses the network of engaging in a "conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him."

Biden has retained attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the legal action against Fox, MSNBC reported. This letter marks the second attempt to contact the network this month, following an earlier hand-delivered letter sent two weeks ago. Fox News requested more time to respond to the initial letter, but has not yet responded to the most recent correspondence, which included a deadline of Friday evening, April 26.

The threat of litigation comes in the wake of Fox News agreeing to pay nearly $800 million to settle defamation claims brought by Dominion Voting Systems related to the network's coverage of election fraud claims in the 2020 election. The network is also facing a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting system company, as well as suits brought by shareholders against company directors for allowing the channel to air the allegations during its 2020 election coverage.

Sources familiar with Biden's legal efforts revealed that the plan to pursue legal action against Fox News has been in development for over a year, inspired in part by the success of the Dominion lawsuit and the ongoing Smartmatic lawsuit. The effort gained new significance following revelations that bribery allegations cited on air originated from FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who was indicted by the special counsel in February.

BREAKING: Hunter Biden is preparing to sue Fox News for making fun of him.

He warns in a letter to Fox News and Fox News Digital that they will be sued for "conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, as well as the unlicensed… pic.twitter.com/V2oGZ3Ozs4

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 29, 2024

Hunter Biden has been a frequent subject of Fox News coverage, with at least 13,440 mentions of his name on the network since January 2023, according to a review of transcripts by Media Matters. Biden's legal team believes the potential case could be as significant, if not more so, than the Dominion case.

The letter specifically cites Fox's advancement of bribery allegations by Smirnov, who was indicted in February for making false statements about the Bidens to the FBI. It also alleges that Fox News knew the allegations were unverified but continued to report that the source was "highly credible." The letter demands corrections and retractions, including on-air statements by television hosts Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, and Maria Bartiromo, MSNBC reported.

Furthermore, the letter alleges that Fox's airing of "intimate images" belonging to Hunter Biden, which his lawyers claim were "hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated," violates Biden's civil rights and copyright law. Much of the letter focuses on a six-part "mock trial" titled "The Trial of Hunter Biden" that aired in October 2021, which the letter claims "intentionally manipulates the facts, distorts the truth, narrates happenings out of context, and invents dialogue intended to entertain."

This new legal push comes as Biden prepares for a summer of criminal trials, with his first trial on gun charges in Delaware set to begin on June 3, and his tax case expected to go to trial in August.