A lawyer for the Hollywood attorney who lent Hunter Biden money to pay off a multi-million dollar IRS debt claims staff working for House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer lied to him and his client, Kevin Morris when they asked Comer not to selectively leak portions of his testimony given during a deposition on Thursday.
In a letter to Mr. Comer 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 began today’s interview with my client, Mr. Kevin Morris, I particularly mentioned the habit of Republicans in making selective leaks of witness comments rather than releasing the entire transcript so that the public might know the truth rather than your frequently false spin and misstatements. I particularly requested that this not be done with Mr. Morris’ transcript and, if it were, that the complete transcript be shared,” he said, adding that in response, Mr Comer’s staff had pledged that Mr Morris would be treated “properly.”
“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, noting that Mr Comer chose to issue a statement that mischaracterized his client’s comments less than two hours after the deposition ended.
“So much for the promise of your staff that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly,” he stated in an email.
Mr Sullivan also stated that he was writing to correct the record in response to Mr Comer’s comments, noting nine specific instances of the Oversight panel chair purposefully misrepresenting what happened during the closed-door deposition.
In one instance, he claimed Mr. Comer’s assertion that Mr. Morris’ decision to loan Hunter Biden monies to cover a debt to the IRS was influenced by a desire to “insulate thenâ€presidential candidate Joe Biden from political liability” was an intentional mischaracterization of what he had testified to.
“Mr. Morris was concerned only that people like you do 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 was quoted as saying.
Mr Sullivan also criticized Mr Comer’s use of quotation marks around the word “loan” in the statement, claiming that it looked like the Bluegrass State congressman made that style choice “to give the impression that Mr. Morris’ loans to Mr. Hunter Biden were somehow not real”.
“To the contrary, Mr Morris repeatedly testified that 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, later adding that Mr Comer had falsely claimed that Mr Biden’s loans aren’t due until after this year’s election.
Continuing, he claimed that Mr Comer had misrepresented Mr Morris’ interactions with President Biden as meaningful access rather than “cursory” greetings delivered at events he attended as Hunter Biden’s guest, including Naomi Biden’s wedding at the White House in November 2022.
“These minimal interactions and attendance at large events are hardly the impression that you intended with your false and misleading description,” he went on to say.
Mr Sullivan closed his letter by requesting that Mr Comer share the entire transcript of the deposition, stating that a “dueling rendition of what Mr Morris actually said” is superfluous.
“Just release the entire transcript. Why would you be hesitant or afraid to do it, if not to contradict your spin? “Let the public see the truth,” he declared.
In a statement, an Oversight Committee representative stated that the panel “intends to release the transcript soon” once the stenographer has completed it.
“The transcript will confirm Chairman Comer’s readout of the interview with Kevin Morris,” the official explained.