Case of the "computer of hell": Joe Biden's son files a complaint for the first time

Europe 1 with AFP 18:00 p.m., March 17, 2023

The son of US President Joe Biden filed a complaint Friday against the owner of a computer repair store who disseminated photos of him, taken during sex or drug use. Targeted for years by Republican attacks, Hunter Biden is going on the offensive for the first time, at a time when opposition lawmakers are scrutinizing his affairs in China and Ukraine.

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The right accuses him of having capitalized on his name and the address book of his father, when he was vice president of Barack Obama (2009-2017), to make dubious contracts in these two countries.

Hunter Biden allegedly involved his father in his businesses

Just before the 2020 presidential election, the conservative New York Post newspaper published emails retrieved from a laptop supposedly proving that Hunter Biden involved his father in his businesses. During a televised duel, Donald Trump had challenged Joe Biden on this "computer of hell". The Democrat had retorted that he had "never earned a penny from any foreign source". The Biden camp then made the big back in the face of the disclosure of thousands of documents from this laptop, some of which threw a harsh light on the escapades of Hunter who has long suffered from a drug addiction.

Since Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives in January, they have stepped up their attacks using their powers of parliamentary investigation. Also on Thursday, they publicly reviewed bank documents purporting to prove that other members of the Biden family, including the president's brother, profited from Hunter's business in China. Faced with this heavy fire, the president's youngest son set up a legal team a few weeks ago.

Complaint for "violation of privacy"

On Friday, he moved up a gear by filing a complaint for "violation of privacy" against the owner of the repair shop, where he is supposed to have dropped off his mobile phone without ever recovering it. He accuses John Paul Mac Isaac of having copied and distributed thousands of confidential documents without his authorization. However, "the material he transmitted included photos of Joe Biden using drugs, without clothes or in adult relationships with adults," which "damaged his reputation," according to the complaint.

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Hunter Biden is calling for a trial before a jury, at the risk of a big unpacking at a time when his father, who has made ethics one of the hallmarks of his presidency, seems ready to run for a second term.