(NewsNation) — Lawyers for President Joe Biden’s son Hunter say they plan to sue Fox News “imminently,” according to a letter obtained by NewsNation.
“For the last five years, Fox News has relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden and made him a caricature in order to boost ratings and for its financial gain,” his attorney, Mark Geragos, said in a statement. “The recent indictment of FBI informant (Alexander) Smirnov has exposed the conspiracy of disinformation that has been fueled by Fox, enabled by their paid agents and monetized by the Fox enterprise. We plan on holding them accountable.”
Prosecutors allege Smirnov, 43, falsely told his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid the president and Hunter Biden about $5 million each around 2015. Smirnov has pleaded not guilty to charges against him. Charging documents say Smirnov provided “false and derogatory information” to federal agents about both Bidens in 2020.
Smirnov’s claims are the main focus of a GOP-led House impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden that has remained stalled. Last month, Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, announced that he wants to seek testimony from President Biden himself, accusing him of being either “complicit or incompetent” in Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
White House officials have previously demanded Fox News retract its coverage of these bribery allegations, saying they are “false,” NewsNation partner The Hill reported. In a letter to Fox News obtained by The Hill in March, White House special assistant to the president Ian Sams said that citing the number of times Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity promoted Smirnov’s allegations would take “multiple pages.”
“As you of course now know, the source of this allegation has been federally indicted for making the whole thing up,” Sams wrote. “Despite this, Fox has taken no steps to retract, correct, or update its reporting on this false allegation from 2023.”
NewsNation has reached out to Fox for comment.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.