OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:24 PM – Wednesday, February 21, 2024
James Biden, President Joe Biden’s brother, took to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to speak in a private interview. As part of their investigation into President Joe Biden’s impeachment, House Republicans questioned him about his prior financial activities.
Purportedly, the president’s younger brother previously engaged in dubious business dealings with a healthcare company that subsequently filed for bankruptcy, as well as companies centered in China with his nephew Hunter, the son of Joe Biden.
Republicans are currently investigating whether Joe Biden exploited his political clout as vice president in order to enrich his family.
Inquiries regarding a series of payments to James Biden’s company in 2017 amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars were expected to be brought up. The money came from Hunter Biden associate Rob Walker and originated from an energy company connected to the Chinese government, according to bank records the House Oversight Committee was able to obtain.
Walker informed Congress this month that the payments were a part of a partnership that he, James, and Hunter Biden had with the Chinese energy giant to fund projects both domestically and abroad.
This month, Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of James and Hunter Biden who fell out with them, testified before Congress, saying that Joe Biden’s name was crucial to their work in China.
“And I was asking [James Biden], ‘How are you doing it? It doesn’t make any sense. Aren’t you guys concerned that if Joe does run for President of the United States in the future that you guys are doing business directly with the Chinese?’” Bobulinski said. “He looks at me and sort of chuckles and says, ‘Plausible deniability,’” he continued.
In a highly publicized incident, a healthcare company sent James Biden more than half a million dollars in 2018 with the understanding that he would assist their company, Americore, in obtaining funding from the Middle East.
Following the company’s bankruptcy, according to court documents, a trustee attempted to recoup that money from James Biden.
Politico reported that recently discovered records show that James Biden and other Biden family members had a considerably greater involvement with Americore, whose demise has resulted in numerous lawsuits and “wreaked] havoc in rural communities.” The outlet reportedly discovered that James Biden assisted Americore in obtaining regulatory permits and frequently used Joe Biden’s name while working with the company. He had mentioned that his nephew Hunter and wife Sara were also involved with the business.
The Oversight Committee also found that in 2017 and 2018, Joe Biden received two checks from his brother that were purported to be loan repayments while he was a private citizen.
According to bank records, James Biden wrote out one check using funds from a partnership with a Chinese company and the other using funds from Americore.
Democrats have tried to emphasize that payments for the exact amounts on the two checks were made to James Biden from a bank account linked to Joe Biden. This, they claim, supports the idea that the checks were valid loan repayments and does not indicate that Joe Biden profited financially from his family’s business ventures.
But it is still unclear what the loans were being used for.
Republicans subpoenaed James Biden to appear in November, and now an interview is set to take place. Senior GOP sources familiar with the situation say that James Biden and his counsel were mostly helpful about negotiating the circumstances of his testimony, in contrast to the highly public and acrimonious back-and-forth they had with Hunter Biden, who is due to speak next week.
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