Hunter Biden seeks to reduce child support payments for daughter he’s never met in Arkansas court hearing

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN)- Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, appeared before an Arkansas judge on Monday in relation to a years-old paternity dispute. Biden is seeking to reduce child support payments previously agreed upon in a settlement for his four-year-old daughter, Navy, whom he has never met. Biden’s lawyer claimed he has been paying the child’s mother $20,000 a month, totaling over $750,000 so far.

As CNN’s Sara Murray reports, the judge ordered Hunter to provide additional answers about his finances. The hearing, which began as a paternity case in 2019, has since morphed into a battle over Hunter’s overseas business dealings, the now infamous laptop, and other financial issues.

The judge also told Hunter’s attorneys that they must make more of their court filings publicly available, stating that she has been generous in keeping many details of the case under wraps but cannot “gag the whole world.”

Hunter will sit for a deposition in June where he’ll be questioned under oath. The judge ordered details on Hunter’s taxes, stating that the “cryptic, hide-the-ball game isn’t going to cut it when we get to trial.”

Republican lawmakers have launched a sprawling probe into the Biden family’s business dealings, seeking many of the same financial records Lunden Roberts, the child’s mother, is trying to access.

Last week, Hunter’s lawyers met with Justice Department officials as prosecutors weigh whether to bring charges related to failure to file taxes, tax evasion, and a false statement charge related to a gun purchase. Hunter has maintained his innocence, stating that he is “absolutely certain, 100% certain, that at the end of the investigation, I will be cleared.”

As for the paternity case, Hunter initially denied fathering the child, but a DNA test confirmed he is the biological father. He has since agreed to pay child support.