Hunter Biden is reviving his lawsuit against Fox News for publishing explicit images of him without his consent for a since-deleted series on the network’s streaming platform.
Biden sued Fox News in July but dropped the lawsuit when his father, President Joe Biden, stepped aside from the presidential race over mounting concerns about his mental fitness.
“Hunter Biden’s now second lawsuit against FOX News shopped to a different court is once again devoid of any merit. The core complaint stems from a 2022 streaming program that Mr. Biden did not take issue with until sending a letter in late April 2024,” Fox News said in a statement to National Review.
“The program was removed within days of that letter, in an abundance of caution, but Mr. Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of multiple investigations and is now a convicted felon,” the statement continued. “Consistent with the First Amendment, FOX News has accurately covered the newsworthy events of his own making, and we look forward to vindicating our rights in court.”
Biden’s new lawsuit was filed in New York state court instead of federal court and adds one current and one former Fox executive as defendants. Before Biden’s initial legal challenge, Fox News took down the fictionalized streaming series in question, which depicted him standing trial on bribery and foreign-agent charges.
“Defendants published and disseminated these Intimate Images to their vast audience of millions as part of an entertainment program in order to humiliate, harass, annoy, and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his reputation,” the lawsuit reads. “In publishing and disseminating the Intimate Images, Defendants knew that these private and confidential images were hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated digital material which were intended to remain private and confidential, but which had been unlawfully procured and disseminated without Mr. Biden’s consent.”
Biden is seeking a jury trial to determine whether he is eligible for compensatory damages and if Fox News should pay punitive damage for airing the explicit images. High-profile law firm Geragos and Geragos filed the lawsuit on Biden’s behalf Tuesday with the New York state supreme court. Fox News is seeking to have the case moved to federal court.
The lawsuit is part of Biden’s aggressive legal strategy against his political opponents. Fox News has heavily covered Hunter Biden’s personal indiscretions, lucrative foreign business dealings, and mounting legal troubles over the past few years.
In June, a Delaware jury found Biden guilty on three federal gun charges stemming from his purchase of a firearm when he was addicted to crack cocaine six years ago. Two of the charges against Biden pertained to lying about his drug addiction on gun paperwork and the third was for possessing the firearm while he was a drug addict.
Biden’s sentencing is set for later this year. He faces up to 25 years in prison. As a first-time offender, Biden will likely receive a significantly reduced sentence.
Last month, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in California to criminal tax charges, avoiding trial on nine offenses connected to his failure to pay over $1.4 million in taxes in a timely manner over a four year period last decade. His sentencing for the tax charges is scheduled for mid-December.