A judge has just ordered the parties involved in the federal case against Hunter Biden not to contact the court's clerk.
The Washington Examiner reports that U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika gave the order in a filing that was made on Friday.
This comes after Noreika refused to allow Biden and the federal government to proceed with what many have referred to as a "sweetheart" plea agreement - the agreement in which Biden agreed to plead guilty to a tax and a gun misdemeanor in exchange for not having to spend any time in prison.
Noreika refused to allow the parties to proceed with the plea agreement, and, now, Noreika has ordered the parties not to contact the court clerk but, rather, to refer any problems that may arise directly to her.
Noreika, in Friday's filing, stated that she decided to give this order for two reasons.
Noreika writes:
I have already discussed my concerns about apparent misrepresentations made to a member of this Court’s Clerk’s Office. In addition to that, in a submission addressing those apparent misrepresentations ... counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee needlessly included on the public docket an email from a Clerk’s Office staff member that contained her personal contact information."
The House Ways and Means Committee counsel referred to by Noreika is Theodore Kittila. Kittila is representing House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO).
On Tuesday, Smith alleged that Jessica Bengels - a member of Hunter Biden's legal team - called the clerk's office and pretended to be a member of Smith's legal team.
In addition to this, Smith alleged that Bengels attempted to get the clerk to remove from the court docket an amicus brief, from Smith to the court, that allegedly contained sensitive documents about Hunter Biden.
Noreika looked into the matter and apparently found that there is at least some truth to what Smith and Kittila alleged.
Noreika, prior to the plea dealing hearing, wrote:
[Bengels] represented that she worked with Mr. Kittila and requested the amicus materials be taken down because they contained sensitive grand jury, taxpayer and Social Security information. It appears that the caller misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the Clerk's Office to remove the amicus materials from the docket.
Noreika then asked Hunter Biden's legal team to explain why they ought not to be sanctioned for this. Biden's legal team responded by denying the allegations and by claiming that the situation stems "from an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication between a staff member at our firm and employees of the Court."
Then, it was on Friday that Noreika entered the order preventing the parties from contacting the clerk's office.
This case is just getting going and there already appears to be some shady things taking place.
