LINCOLN — Saying there “needs to be accountability for any misconduct or favoritism,” U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts is urging a disciplinary review of allegations that Hunter Biden’s legal team misled the judge in his case.
Nebraska’s junior Republican senator has sent a letter with his concerns to professional disciplinary committees in both New York and the District of Columbia. In it, he called for the committees to take “swift action” to investigate.
Although Ricketts is not involved with the case against President Joe Biden’s son, he said Tuesday that he wrote the letter to “help restore integrity to the justice system.”
Ricketts
“I’ve heard from countless Nebraskans who are concerned our justice system is being weaponized against President Biden’s political opponents while his son gets preferential treatment,” he said. “It’s incumbent on all of us to ensure that the justice system is treating all Americans fairly.”
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Ricketts’ statement echoed concerns raised by former President Donald Trump and his supporters about “weaponization” of the justice system, particularly as the number of criminal indictments against Trump increases. Trump is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
But Jane Kleeb, executive director of the Nebraska Democratic Party, criticized the senator’s action.
“Sen. Ricketts should spend more time looking into the multiple indictments and corruption of the leading Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump rather than dragging down a private citizen,” she said. “But this is what we have come to expect from the clown car show of the Republican Party.”
On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on four felony charges related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, witness tampering, conspiracy against the rights of citizens, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
“This is nothing but an egregious act of election interference and a final act of desperation from crooked Joe (Biden) as he crashes in the polls,” Trump said in a statement Wednesday.
The former president also faces federal charges over allegedly retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort, and state charges in New York related to alleged hush money payments to an adult film star.
Trump and his supporters contrast those cases with the alleged favoritism toward Hunter Biden, who has been accused of tax crimes and possession of a firearm by a known drug user.
Republicans contend that the younger Biden has been getting preferential treatment because of his father and he should be charged for some of his other business dealings. They particularly questioned a plea deal reached with prosecutors last month.
The deal fell apart last month, when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika refused to accept the agreement. A day before that hearing, Noreika accused one member of Hunter Biden’s legal team with misrepresenting herself in a phone call to the court.
Ricketts’ letter focuses on those accusations in seeking an investigation of Christopher Clark, a partner and co-chair of the Washington, D.C., corporate department of Latham & Watkins, and Jessica Bengels, the managing attorney of litigation services in the firm’s New York office.
“While the exact details of this matter are uncertain, it appears an ethical line was crossed,” Ricketts wrote, adding that “the circumstances surrounding the incident demand an investigation.”
Noreika said Bengels had called the court clerk’s office and falsely claimed to work for an attorney representing a GOP congressman in the hopes of persuading the clerk to remove documents from the public docket that apparently contained Hunter Biden’s personal tax information.
Latham & Watkins said the incident resulted from a misunderstanding. The firm said Bengels had identified herself properly and had called from a law firm phone that typically shows the firm name on the caller ID.
Ricketts was appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Ben Sasse, who resigned to become president of the University of Florida. He must win election in 2024 to stay in office through the end of Sasse’s term.
So far, the only declared Senate candidate is John Glen Weaver, a Republican who lost to Mike Flood in the 1st Congressional District primary last year. But former GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster has said he is considering options, including a Senate bid, for 2024.
Ricketts was the chief financial backer for Pillen, who defeated Herbster in the 2022 GOP primary.
Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of July 2023
A shelf cloud can be seen from a storm that brought heavy rain and high winds to Omaha early on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.
Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon serves in a women’s singles quarterfinal match of the badminton 2023 U.S. Open at the Mid-America Center on Friday, July 14, 2023.
The US’s Presley Smith hits the shuttlecock behind Allison Lee in a mixed doubles quarterfinal match at the badminton 2023 U.S. Open at the Mid-America Center on Friday, July 14, 2023.
Lin Chun-yi, representing Chinese Taipei, takes to the air to hit a shuttlecock during a men’s singles quarterfinal match at the badminton 2023 U.S. Open at the Mid-America Center on Friday, July 14, 2023.
Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn returns the shuttlecock during a men’s singles quarterfinals match of the badminton 2023 U.S. Open at the Mid-America Center on Friday, July 14, 2023.
Sunlight creeps in as a worker welds the dome to the building after the Raising of the Dome All Holy Spirit Greek Orthodox Church near 193rd & Harney streets on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
Bishop Constantine of Sassima, left, and Fr. Alexander Lukashonok watch the Raising of the Dome for All Holy Spirit Greek Orthodox Church near 193rd & Harney streets on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
Workers weld the dome to the building after the Raising of the Dome All Holy Spirit Greek Orthodox Church near 193rd & Harney streets on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
From left, Jerry Carlson, Judi gaiashkibos, Zahn McClarnon, Loretta Jordan and Tammy Rohde visit an old dairy barn on the site of the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Names and other messages from the children can still be seen written on and carved into the wooden beams of the barn. Photographed in Genoa, Neb., on Monday.
Loretta Jordan, of Omaha, gets a closer look as she and her son, Zahn McClarnon and Judi gaiashkibos, the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, visit an old dairy barn on the site of the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Names and other messages from the children can still be seen written on and carved into the wooden beams of the barn. Photographed in Genoa, Neb., on Monday.
Crowds gather during the Independence Day Celebration with Omaha Symphony Concert at Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha on Wednesday.
The Omaha Symphony performs during the Independence Day Celebration at Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha on Wednesday.
Kaden Burton, 5, plays in the water during the Omaha Parks and Recreation Department Hydrant Party in Omaha on Monday. Hydrant parties are held at various locations across the city every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Participants play a water game during the 63rd annual Fourth of July parade in Ralston on Tuesday.
Johnathan Lawson (2) dribbles down the court during the Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball practice at the Championship Center in Omaha on Tuesday.
Trey Alexander (23) shoots a free throw during the Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball practice at the Championship Center in Omaha on Tuesday.
Steven Greg Donsbach was killed in his home located at 9927 Essex Drive. Matthew Briggs, a person of interest, was shot and killed by police after a pursuit in Council Bluffs.
A photograph of Mildred Lowe with her mother taken in 1924. Mildred died at 12 years old while attending the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her niece, Carolyn Fiscus, a member of the Winnebago tribe, came out to observe as archeologists with History Nebraska excavate a potential burial site for children who died while at the school. Photographed near the site of the school, bordering the Loup River Power Canal in Genoa, Neb., on Tuesday.
Jarell Grant, Zahn McClarnon and Mark Parker monitor and observe as Brittany Walter, a forensic anthropologist and consultant with History Nebraska, excavates a potential burial site for children who died while at the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Photographed near the site of the school, bordering the Loup River Power Canal in Genoa, Neb., on Tuesday.
A child holds a sign “Farmers for Trump” as former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the MidAmerica Center on Friday, July 07, 2023.
A worker steams the wrinkles out of American flags before a campaign rally by Former President Donald Trump at the MidAmerica Center on Friday, July 07, 2023.
Former President Donald Trump throws “Famers for Trump” hats to the crowd during a campaign rally at the MidAmerica Center on Friday, July 07, 2023.
Omaha firefighters look for a man who was one of two swept into manhole during a rainstorm in downtown Omaha on Friday, July 07, 2023 The was carried through the sewer about a mile away and was found trapped behind a metal grate covering a culvert, fire officials said. An Omaha Fire Department crew cut the grate and got the man free,
Sylvia Black poses for a portrait in her garden shed at her Papillion home on Thursday, July 06, 2023.
A view of downtown Omaha from the Farnam Pier at Heartland of America Park on Wednesday.
Construction continues on the playground at Lewis and Clark Landing in Omaha on Wednesday.
Ducks swim in Carter Lake on Tuesday.
Nyle Brockman skates at Mabrey Park in Carter Lake on Tuesday.
Justin Peacock, co-owner of Delta Electric, stands for a portrait at his home in Cedar Creek on Friday. Peacock installed solar panels on his roof in 2019.
Scott Amlee walks his dog Tiana at Walnut Grove Park in Omaha on Tuesday.
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