Hunter Biden says he was ’embarrassed’ by laptop in deposition

Hunter Biden testified recently that he was embarrassed by “offensive” content published from his laptop after he dropped it off for repair at The Mac Shop in Wilmington, Delaware on April 12, 2019 – but still denies that the laptop or its contents are his.

The First Son provided confusing and often contradictory testimony under oath on June 29 during a six hour deposition related to a defamation action brought by John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the now defunct computer repair shop, who accuses Hunter of falsely insisting the laptop was not his, or was stolen, or that his information was hacked.

Hunter is countersuing Mac Isaac, accusing him of illegally distributing his personal data, and invading his privacy. 

Portions of Hunter’s deposition are revealed for the first time in the opening brief of a motion filed by Mac Isaac, in Delaware Superior court late Thursday, to dismiss the countersuit with prejudice.

Hunter refused to admit in his deposition that he visited The Mac Shop twice in April 2019, despite Mac Isaac presenting evidence that Hunter signed a work order and provided his contact information.

Bank records which Hunter was required to hand over to Mac Isaac’s legal team also show “frequent uses of Wells Fargo ATMs where significant withdrawals were made – all within a few miles of Mac Isaac’s shop,” the filing says. 

Although Hunter claimed he “is without knowledge” as to his whereabouts on April 12, 2019, “Mac Isaac knows exactly where he was.”

Hunter’s “confused and dishonest responses prove fatal to all facts alleged in his counterclaims.”

Hunter claimed he was “embarrassed” by publication of private material that would be “highly offensive to a reasonable person,” according to the filing, yet much of the material that a reasonable person would find most offensive, such as sexually explicit photos, was “voluntarily shared by [Hunter] Biden with others through the website, ‘Pornhub.’…

“The use of the ‘reasonable person’ standard should clearly not apply to Biden… It seems what would embarrass a reasonable person does not embarrass Biden.”

Material on the laptop also shows Hunter’s “lack of concern about using his father’s political ties to close deals with foreign countries, some of whom are considered adversaries with the United States (i.e., People’s Republic of China),” the filing asserts.

In his deposition, Hunter also:

• Gave “confused and dishonest responses” about whether he dropped off the laptop with Mac Isaac on April 12, 2019, or returned a day or two later at Mac Isaac’s request with an external hard drive onto which his data could be transferred;

• Refused to admit that the laptop was his. “He either doesn’t recall or denies it altogether”;
• “Hems and haws about how embarrassing the content of the laptop was while, at the same time, failing to identify what content and if it was even his content”;
• Said he was “without knowledge” that he had received voicemail messages and emails from Mac Isaac about his laptop asking him to bring in an external hard drive, pay his repair bill and pick up his property; 
• Claimed he did not give consent to Mac Isaac to access the data on his laptop even though he signed a work order;
• Refused to deny that he signed the work order;
• Claimed that the “boilerplate terms of the Repair Authorization” on the work order were “well below the signature line” even though he is a trained attorney and signed the document; 
• Referred to the Repair Authorization as a “typical small-print adhesion clause for which there was no proper notice or opportunity to bargain or negotiate.” But, according to the filing, the text is “not abnormally small” and is the same size as the rest of the work order.

Hunter abandoned his laptop at Mac Isaac’s store in April 2019 and never returned to pick it up or pay his bill, despite multiple attempts by Mac Isaac to contact him by phone and email.

“After obtaining the rights to the laptop pursuant to the contract signed by Biden, Mac Isaac grew uneasy with the seemingly illegal activities cataloged in the laptop. 

“As he was taught to do at the Apple Store and in accordance with his own convictions, he made contact with the FBI. Soon thereafter, on December 9, 2019, Mac Isaac gave the laptop, the original hard drive, and the original work order to the FBI.”

The FBI verified the authenticity of Hunter’s abandoned laptop in November 2019 by matching the device number against Hunter Biden’s Apple iCloud ID,” IRS supervisory agent Gary Shapley testified to Congress in June. 

An FBI computer expert assessed the laptop “was not manipulated in any way,” and could be used as evidence, Shapley said.

The IRS investigation of Hunter also accessed financial records showing he was at a cigar shop near MacIsaac’s store in Wilmington, Del., the day the laptop was dropped off.