- Hunter Biden's lawyers are asking the Justice Department to open a criminal inquiry into some of former President Donald Trump's top allies over his laptop
- Lawyer Abbe Lowell asked the DOJ to probe Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani's lawyer and the owner of the Wilmington computer store
- Hunter Biden never consented to having his personal information from the laptop shared, Lowell argued
Hunter Biden is going on the offense, with his lawyers now asking the Justice Department to investigate the Trump allies who peddled his laptop's hard drive to media outlets in the run-up to the 2020 election
Among those Hunter Biden's lawyer asked the DOJ to investigate: Trump's campaign lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (left) and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon (right)
Hunter Biden is going on the offense, with his lawyers now asking the Justice Department to investigate Donald Trump's allies, who peddled his laptop's hard drive to media outlets in the run-up to the 2020 election.
The first son's lawyer Abbe Lowell asked the DOJ to probe former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, campaign lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani's lawyer and the owner of the Wilmington computer repair shop, John Paul Mac Isaac, who obtained the laptop in April 2019.
Using passages from Mac Isaac's book, American Injustice: My Battle to Expose the Truth, Lowell notes that the repair man sent a copy of the laptop data to Giuliani's lawyer Robert Costello, who turned it over to the ex-mayor, who at the time was pushing discredited theories about the younger Biden.
From there, Giuliani pitched the laptop story to a reporter at the New York Post - which broke the story in October 2020 - and to Bannon, the letter said.
Hunter Biden never consented to having his personal information shared, Lowell argued
'This failed dirty political trick directly resulted in the exposure, exploitation and manipulation of Mr. Biden's private and personal information,' the letter said. 'Politicians and the news media have used this unlawfully accessed, copied, distributed, and manipulated data to distort the truth and cause harm to Mr. Biden.'
The letter is the first time Hunter Biden has acknowledged it was his data that was found and distributed to members of the news media.
Contents of the laptop include business and personal emails, as well as a number of images of Hunter Biden in compromising positions.
In a separate letter, Biden's attorneys have asked that Fox News host Tucker Carlson retract and apologize for what they claim are false and defamatory statements when he repeatedly said that Hunter Biden has access to the classified documents found at the Bidens' Wilmington home.
Mac Isaac declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday evening.
Costello, asked to comment on behalf of himself and Giuliani, said he had not yet seen a copy of the letter but said it sounded 'preposterous.'
Ted Goodman, a political and communications adviser to Giuliani, told DailyMail.com: 'The work order is as clear as it can be. The laptop became abandoned property under John Mac Isaac's control.
'Raising concerns now, after so many years, indicates just how devastating the texts and videos from Hunter's laptop truly are,' Goodman continued.
'The laptop reveals 30 years of corruption by the Biden crime family, headed by the boss - Joe Biden.
'This sure looks like a tailor-made RICO case and that's why they're trying to cover this up,' he added.
'It's an obvious attempt to silence America's Mayor, a man who took down the mafia, locked up corrupt politicians and cleaned up the streets of New York City.'
A lawyer who represented Bannon at a trial in Washington, D.C., last year did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
A Fox News representative had no immediate comment to The Associated Press.
Hunter Biden's lawyer argued that he never consented to having his personal information shared. The laptop's contents included business and personal emails, as well as a number of images of the first son in compromising positions
The request for the DOJ to open a criminal inquiry does not commit federal prosecutors to take any actions, but represents a shift in legal strategy and a rare public response by the younger Biden and his legal team to years of attacks by Republican officials and conservative media, scrutiny expected to continue now that the GOP has taken over the House.
The letter to the Justice Department was addressed to its top national security official, Matthew Olsen.
It cites possible violations of statutes prohibiting the unauthorized access of a computer or stored electronic communication as well as the transport of stolen data across state lines and the publication of restricted personal data with the intent to intimidate or threaten.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Separate letters requesting investigations were also sent to the Delaware state attorney general's office and to the Internal Revenue Service. Spokespeople there did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
On Monday, the new House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer called Hunter Biden a 'witness' in an investigation into 'Biden family influence peddling,' focused primarily on the first son's business deals with China.
Comer said he wouldn't immediately be calling Hunter Biden to sit before the committee, but was seeking so-called 'suspicious activity reports' from the Treasury Department dealing with his China business.
'So when you look at [Jared Kushner] - and again I'm not defending him - I know what business he was in. He's in the real estate business,' Comer said as he headlined an event at the National Press Club. 'What business is Hunter Biden in? I would argue it's influence peddling and I've got a problem with that.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11703691/Hunter-Bidens-lawyer-asks-DOJ-probe-Trumps-allies-distributing-laptop.html
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