A judge in Arkansas has ordered Hunter Biden to appear in person for a hearing next Monday regarding the paternity case of his unacknowledged 4-year-old daughter.
An order entered Monday in the Circuit Court of Independence County -- but posted on the court website Tuesday -- says Biden must appear in person in Batesville, Arkansas, next Monday, May 1 regarding the paternity case of the 4-year-old child. Fox News contacted his attorney Brett Langdon but received no response before publication.
During a Zoom hearing Monday, Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer ruled that Biden and Lunden Roberts, the mother of 4-year-old Navy Jones Roberts, can no longer continue sending just their attorneys to proceedings. "From now on ... I want both of your clients at every hearing I conduct," Meyer said, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "I will no longer allow us to excuse clients ... because it is interfering with the progress of litigation, which is taking way too long to get over simple points."
Meyer also challenged Biden's attorney, Brent Langdon, over comments regarding a laptop the president's son is said to have left at a repair shop.
Langdon mentioned Garrett Ziegler, describing him as a potential expert witness in the case regarding the contents of the laptop, which reportedly includes some income-tax records.
"There has never been, to my knowledge, an acknowledgment that this so-called laptop — he continuously calls it Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop ..." Langdon reportedly began.
"Well, let's clear that issue up right now," Meyer interjected. "Is it your client's laptop or not?"
"Your honor, I'm not involved in all of that stuff," Langdon responded, according to the newspaper. "It's not my client's laptop as far as I know."
The judge asserted that she holds clients to what their lawyers say in court. "Is it your client's position, you're representing to this court, that it is not his laptop?" Meyer asked.
"Your honor, I am not in a position to even begin to answer that question," Langdon said.
The judge denied Langdon's request to issue a restraining order.
In a January 2020 order, Meyer declared "with near scientific certainty" that Biden is the girl's father, referred to in court documents as "Baby Doe," following a DNA test.
The girl was born in August 2018, and a paternity suit was filed in May 2019. After the DNA test results, both parties agreed to temporary child support until the case was resolved.
Biden and Roberts reached an agreement to settle their paternity and child-support suit in March 2020, according to the Democrat-Gazette. However, the case was reopened when Biden requested adjustments to the child support payments. In December, Roberts' lawyers filed a motion to have the girl's last name changed to Biden.
"The Biden name is now synonymous with being well-educated, successful, financially acute, and politically powerful," the motion said.
In rebuttal, Biden’s attorney demanded "strict proof thereof that such request is in the best interest of the child."
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Meyer scheduled a bench trial for July 24-25 in Batesville. Despite the DNA results, President Biden has refused to acknowledge the granddaughter born out of wedlock. Last Christmas season, first lady Jill Biden hung stockings for six of their grandchildren at the White House, excluding Navy.
Those recognized were Naomi, 27, Finnegan, 21, Maisy, 20, Natalie, 17, Robert Hunter Biden II, 15, and little Beau, 1.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Roberts' attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.
