Hunter Biden made headlines last month when he accepted a plea deal allowing him to avoid jail time for tax evasion and an illegal gun purchase.

That agreement was back in the news this week after a federal judge ordered Biden's lawyers to explain themselves. 

Brief with IRS whistleblower testimony introduced

According to the Washington Examiner, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika alleged on Tuesday that attorney Jessica Bengels "misrepresented her identity" when speaking with court officials.

The controversy began when House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith filed an amicus brief asking Noreika to consider recent testimony by IRS whistleblowers when considering whether or not to accept Biden's plea deal.

"The Defendant appears to have benefited from political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office," committee attorney Theodore Kittila wrote.

"It is critical that the Court consider the Whistleblower Materials before determining whether to accept the Plea Agreement," the brief went on to add.

Biden attorney accused of attempting to remove brief

However, Kittila then sent an email to Noreika alleging deceptive conduct on the part of Bengels, something the judge described in her order.

"Mr. Kittila asserts that an individual associated with the firm representing Defendant called the Clerk's Office pretending to be associated with Mr. Kittila and representing the amicus materials be removed from the docket, which the Clerk's Office did," Noreika stated.

The judge stressed that it appears Bengels "misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the clerk's office to remove the amicus materials from the docket."

"The Court will temporarily place the document under seal until close of business on July 26, 2023 to afford Defendant the opportunity to try to make the requisite showing," Noreika continued.

She went on to state that the defense team would have to "show cause as to why sanctions should not be considered for misrepresentations to the Court."

Lawyer blames incident on miscommunication

For her part, Bengels submitted an affidavit on Tuesday evening in which she blamed the incident on miscommunication.

"I am completely confident that I never indicated that I was calling from Mr. Kittila’s firm or that I worked with him in any way," the New York Post quoted Bengels' affidavit as saying.

"The only mention of his name was when [the clerk] had asked me if the filings had been entered by Mr. Kittila’s firm and I answered that I believed that to be the case," the lawyer declared.