WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut judge on Monday disbarred Hunter Biden for violating the state’s attorney conduct rules, a decision that followed complaints about federal gun and tax charges against Biden, who was pardoned by his father, former President Joe Biden, last year.
In an agreement with the state office to discipline the attorneys, Hunter Biden agreed to be disbarred and acknowledged attorney misconduct, but he did not admit to any criminal misconduct. In May, he was disbarred in Washington, D.C.
Hunter Biden and his attorney, Ross Garber, appeared via video for a virtual court hearing before Presiding Judge Patrick L. Carroll III in Waterbury. Hunter Biden did not speak.
Hunter Biden was convicted last year in Delaware federal court of three felonies for buying a gun in 2018 when he lied on a federal form, claiming he was not illegally using drugs or addicted to drugs, prosecutors said.
He was scheduled to go on trial in California in September 2024, with prosecutors accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. He agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges hours after jury selection began.
A Connecticut judge found that Hunter Biden violated several attorney ethics rules, including engaging in conduct “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.” In a court filing, Hunter Biden admitted some but not all of the misconduct charges. The judge also cited Washington’s disbarment decision.
Paul Dorsey, one of two people who filed complaints against the former president’s son, told a judge at a hearing on Monday that he opposed the deal because Hunter Biden has not admitted to a crime. But Leanne Larson, an attorney with the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, cited the pardon.
Hunter Biden was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1997, one year after graduating from Yale Law School.