‘False, inaccurate, and misleading’: Attorney for Hunter Biden associate says GOP staffers lied during deposition

A lawyer for the Hollywood attorney who lent Hunter Biden money to cover a multi-million dollar debt to the Internal Revenue Service says staff working for House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer lied to him and his client, Kevin Morris, when they asked that Mr Comer not selectively leak portions of his testimony given during a deposition on Thursday.

In a letter to Mr Comer which was obtained by The Independent, Mr Morris’ lawyer, Bryan Sullivan, slammed the Kentucky Republican for reneging on assurances given after Mr Sullivan asked that the GOP-led panel release the entirety of Mr Morris’ testimony and accused him of leaking “cherry‐picked, out of context and totally misleading descriptions” of what his client actually said behind closed doors.

“When we started today’s interview of my client Mr. Kevin Morris, I specifically pointed out the practice of Republicans in making partial leaks of witness’ statements rather than releasing the actual transcript so the public would know the truth and not your often inaccurate spin and misstatements. I specifically asked that this not to be done with Mr. Morris’ transcript and, if such were done, that the entire transcript be released,” he wrote, adding that in response, Mr Comer’s staff had promised that Mr Morris would be treated “fairly”.

“And, then you did not treat Mr. Morris fairly and engaged in your standard practice of partially and inaccurately leaking a witness’s statements,” he continued before pointing out that Mr Comer had chosen to issue a statement that mischaracterised his clients comments not two hours after the deposition had concluded.

“So much for the promise of your staff that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly,” he wrote.

Mr Sullivan also noted that he was writing to correct the record in response to Mr Comer’s statement, citing nine separate examples of the Oversight panel chair deliberately misstating what had transpired during the closed-door deposition.

In one instance, he said Mr Comer’s claim that Mr Morris’ decision to loan Hunter Biden funds to cover a debt to the IRS was driven by a desire to “insulate then‐presidential candidate Joe Biden from politcal liability” was a deliberate mischaracterisation of what he’d testified to.

“Mr Morris was concerned only that people like you not drag him into things like former President Trump’s impeachment, began helping Mr. Hunter Biden for that reason, and Mr Morris testified that he never thought about President Biden’s campaign that he was only focused on helping his client, Mr Hunter Biden,” he said.

Mr Sullivan also took issue with Mr Comer’s use of quotation marks around the word “loan” in the statement, writing that appeared the Bluegrass State representative had made that stylistic choice “to give the impression that Mr. Morris’ loans to Mr Hunter Biden were somehow not real”.

“To the contrary, Mr Morris repeatedly testified he actually loaned the money to Mr Hunter Biden, that these loans were reviewed by lawyers for each of them, that they have proper loan terms such as interest and a term, and that he expected Mr Hunter Biden to repay these loans,” he said, adding later that Mr Comer had falsely claimed that the loans made to Mr Biden aren’t due until after this year’s election.

Continuing, he added that Mr Comer had also falsely characterised Mr Morris’ interactions with President Biden as some form of meaningful access rather than “cursory” greetings delivered at events he attended as a guest of Hunter Biden, including the November 2022 wedding of Naomi Biden at the White House.

“These minimal interactions and attendance at large events are hardly the impression that you intended with your false and misleading description,” he said.

Mr Sullivan concluded his letter by calling on Mr Comer to release the full transcript of the deposition, writing that a “dueling rendition of what Mr Morris actually said” is unnecessary.

“Just release the full transcript. Why would you be reluctant or afraid to do that, other than it will disprove your spin? Let the public see the truth,” he said.

In a statement, an Oversight Committee spokesperson said the panel “intends to release the transcript soon” once it is completed by the stenographer.

“The transcript will affirm Chairman Comer’s readout of the interview with Kevin Morris,” the spokesperson added.