The judge overseeing Hunter Biden's federal criminal case has ordered attorneys to raise issues with her chambers, not the court clerk.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika on Friday ordered that "any issues or inquiries" in the case "shall be brought to my attention and not to the clerk's office."
The order came two days after an employee at a law firm representing Biden allegedly misrepresented her identity to the clerk's office during a phone call.
"The Clerk's Office for this Court is staffed by many hardworking and dedicated employees," Noreika wrote. "They are often the public face of this Court and must address many different, and often difficult, issues on any given day. Their jobs are not always easy, but they do these jobs well.
"They have earned my trust and my respect. I will not tolerate or countenance them being ill-used, disrespected or lied to."
On Tuesday, the court's clerk said Jessica Bengels, a litigation services director at Latham and Watkins in New York, where Biden attorney Chris Clark was formerly a partner, contacted the clerk and asked to remove amicus brief materials connected to the case.
Attorney Theodore Kittila, who had filed an amicus brief on behalf of Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, wrote that the clerk's office had "advised that someone contacted the court representing that they worked with my office and that they were asking the court to remove this from the docket."
After Noreika threatened sanctions against Biden's legal team, Bengels insisted it was all a misunderstanding.
On Wednesday, Hunter Biden's proposed deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to tax charges and avoid a gun charge hit a snag when Noreika said she needed more time to review the agreement.
At the hearing, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to charges of failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000, prosecutors allege.
He did not enter a plea in a separate case in which he is charged with unlawfully owning a firearm while addicted to and using a controlled substance, a felony.
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