Hunter Biden told lawyers in a sworn deposition that he owns nothing of value except his own paintings, a claim now central to a bitter $17 million legal-fee fight with the firm that defended him through years of criminal and congressional scrutiny.
The deposition transcript, released in recent days by Biden's current legal team, captures the former first son describing a financial picture that would be hard to believe if it didn't come under penalty of perjury. Biden told attorneys for his former law firm, Winston Taylor, that his family "doesn't have any money" and that he personally holds no car, no phone, no stocks, no bonds, and no savings accounts. His only asset of any value, he said, is artwork he painted himself, and he doesn't know what it's worth.
Winston Taylor, the firm that represented Biden through federal criminal prosecutions, congressional investigations, and defamation litigation, is now suing him for roughly $17 million in unpaid fees. The firm's lawsuit paints a picture of a client who racked up enormous legal costs and then walked away from the tab, a tab the firm says it tried to help Biden cover by connecting him with donors in the Democratic fundraising network.
The insolvency claims are striking given Biden's financial history. He earned a seven-figure annual salary while serving on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company whose hiring of him became a flashpoint during his father's political career. Fox News reported that Biden spent large sums on crack cocaine, alcohol, luxury hotels, prostitutes, and expensive jewelry during that period, burning through income that might otherwise have built a cushion against the legal reckoning now bearing down on him.
On Tuesday, Biden conceded during an interview on the "Arm Chair Expert" podcast that he should never have taken the Burisma board seat, an admission that arrives years after the controversy first surfaced and long after it became a central issue in his father's presidency.
Biden's deposition testimony was blunt. Asked about his finances, he laid out a picture of total destitution:
"My family doesn't have any money, and it's not their debt anyway. I don't own anything of any value other than, and I don't know the value of it, my paintings which I painted myself. So that's it. And I don't even have any other assets at all, stocks, bonds, anything like that, savings accounts."
He went further in another exchange: "I don't have any assets. I don't own a car. I don't own a phone."
Biden's defense against the $17 million claim rests partly on the argument that Winston Taylor knew from the start he could not pay. He told the lawyers the parties had agreed to "work something out", a vague arrangement that apparently never materialized into a formal payment plan.
The law firm's own conduct adds a layer to the dispute. Winston Taylor, which has a history of representing leading Democrats, attempted to connect Biden with donors inside the Democratic ecosystem who might help cover his legal costs. That effort apparently fell short.
The firm has also sought to put a lien on a $1.7 million defamation judgment Biden won in July against Patrick Byrne, the Overstock CEO. But collecting on that judgment has proved complicated. Byrne is believed to be overseas, putting the money further out of reach for both Biden and the firm trying to recover what it's owed.
Court filings in a related proceeding shed more light on the scramble for payment. The New York Post reported that the firm, identified in that report as Winston & Strawn, is now seeking Biden's private communications with friends and Democratic donors who were asked to help pay his legal bills. Biden has publicly acknowledged owing between $14 million and $17 million in legal debts.
Biden's current attorney, Barry Coburn, has been equally candid about his client's finances. Coburn told the Post that Biden is "impecunious", a legal term meaning he is too poor to pay, and that neither he nor Biden knows the exact amount owed.
One detail stands out: Biden reportedly asked the Democratic National Committee to pay his legal fees after learning the DNC was covering his father's legal costs from the classified documents investigation. The DNC refused. That request reveals how deeply Biden's legal exposure has intertwined with the broader Democratic political apparatus, and how thoroughly the party has distanced itself from his financial problems.
Hunter Biden's financial collapse does not exist in isolation. His father, former President Joe Biden, left the White House carrying roughly $800,000 in personal debt, according to a source familiar with his finances. The elder Biden also faces increased property taxes on his $2.7 million Delaware home.
The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2025 that the former president has had far more trouble cashing in on his post-presidency than his predecessors, struggling to book paid speaking engagements. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation has noted that Biden pulls in more than $400,000 a year in government pensions from his decades in Congress and his time in the White House, a substantial income stream, but one that does not cover a family awash in legal obligations.
Biden has remained a public figure even as his finances deteriorate. He recently told interviewers he never wanted his father to seek re-election but kept quiet about it, one of several media appearances in which he has tried to reframe his role in his family's political story.
Representatives for both Hunter Biden and former President Biden did not respond when Fox News Digital reached out for comment Friday.
Even as he claims poverty under oath, Hunter Biden has maintained a visible public profile. He has been active in media appearances, has launched a Substack to rewrite the laptop story on his own terms, and has agreed to participate in a California-based "Carnival Tour," according to the Post's reporting. The gap between claiming total destitution in a legal proceeding and booking media tours raises obvious questions about what resources Biden actually has access to, and who is funding his day-to-day life.
Biden's legal history is itself a product of choices that compounded over years. He faced federal criminal prosecutions and congressional investigations that required extensive legal representation, the very representation Winston Taylor provided and now wants to be paid for. He received a presidential pardon from his father, a move that drew sharp criticism and spared him from the consequences of conviction but did nothing to erase the legal bills that had already accumulated.
The firm that defended him is now part of a wider legal web touching other political figures. California Governor Gavin Newsom hired Hunter Biden's former defense lawyer as federal probes began targeting his own family and inner circle, a connection that underscores how deeply Biden's legal world is woven into the Democratic establishment.
Several questions remain unanswered. The full case caption and court venue for the Winston Taylor lawsuit have not been disclosed in available filings. The precise value of Biden's paintings, which he identified as his sole asset, has never been publicly established. And the identity of "Biden's new lawyers," who released the deposition transcript, has not been reported.
A man who once earned seven figures from a Ukrainian energy board, spent lavishly by his own account, and benefited from a presidential pardon now swears he doesn't own a phone. Taxpayers and creditors alike are entitled to ask: where did it all go?
