A judge dismissed Tuesday a defamation lawsuit that one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners brought against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov earlier this year.
Manhattan federal judge Paul Oetken threw out Tony Bobulinski’s $30 million defamation claim and granted Tarlov’s request for attorneys fees.
“FOX News is pleased with the court’s landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantino’s meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marks the first federal court decision to award attorney’s fees under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute,” Fox News said in a statement.
Bobulinski and attorney Stefan Passantino sued Tarlov in March after she claimed a super PAC tied to once-and-future president Donald Trump paid Bobulinski’s legal fees. The lawsuit came after Tarlov walked back her assertion but did not fully retract it on Fox News’s The Five broadcast.
“I would like to clarify a comment I made yesterday during our discussion of Tony Bobulinski’s appearance at the congressional hearing,” Tarlov said on March 21.
“During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing I said that Mr. Bobulinski’s lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recently as January. What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication of those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees and he denies that they were,” she added.
Bobulinski testified publicly earlier in March about the Biden family’s foreign business dealings at a hearing House Republicans held during the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. At the hearing, Bobulinski accused Hunter Biden and his uncle James of lying under oath about their Chinese business dealings and later suggested Joe Biden should be impeached because of his apparent role in his son’s foreign business dealings during his vice presidency.
The hearing took place weeks after Bobulinski testified behind closed doors about a meeting he had with Joe, Hunter, and James Biden in May 2017 related to a proposed business venture with Chinese infrastructure conglomerate CEFC. House Republicans subsequently referred Hunter and James Biden to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over allegedly lying under oath.
The impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden uncovered $27 million of payments from foreign sources to Hunter Biden and his business partners from 2014-19, during and after Joe Biden’s vice presidency. The high-profile congressional investigation also revealed Joe Biden’s contacts with his son’s business associates.
Hunter Biden testified in February and defended his father’s calls on speakerphone with his foreign business partners, insisting he was simply picking up his dad’s call. He also dismissed Bobulinski as a disgruntled former partner who was upset about the CEFC deal falling through, as Hunter and James went into a different venture with the Chinese firm.
Special counsel David Weiss prosecuted Hunter Biden on three federal gun charges in Delaware and nine federal gun charges in California. A Delaware jury in June found Biden guilty of lying on gun paperwork about his drug usage and possessing a firearm during a period when he was addicted to crack cocaine. In September, Biden plead guilty to the tax charges for failing to pay over $1.4 million of taxes las decade in a timely manner. His sentencing dates for both cases are scheduled for next month.