Friday, November 22, 2024
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House GOP Reveals Payments From Hunter to Joe Biden



The White House was unaware Monday afternoon of the latest revelation from the House Oversight Committee: previous, reoccurring payments from Hunter Biden to his father. More evidence, Republicans claimed, of the presidentโ€™s connection to the โ€œshady corners of the world.โ€

โ€œI have to be clear with you, I have not seen that report,โ€ Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told RealClearPolitics when asked about the three payments of $1,380 that occurred in between Bidenโ€™s time as vice president and president.

Hunter Bidenโ€™s lawyer, however, was not unaware of the payments. They were for a truck.

โ€œThere Chairman Comer goes again โ€“ reheating what is old as new to try to revive his sham of an investigation,โ€ Abbe Lowell said in a statement to reporters. โ€œThe truth is Hunterโ€™s father helped him when he was struggling financially due to his addiction and could not secure credit to finance a truck. When Hunter was able to, he paid his father back and took over the payments himself.โ€

More specifically, the payments were for a high-performance pickup truck, a Ford Raptor.

Emails from a laptop the younger Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer store show the son accounting for payments to his father.

A personal assistant to Hunter Biden, Katie Dodge, sent a January 2019 email regarding his bills. Included in the itemization: โ€œFord Raptor โ€“ Reimbursement to JRB โ€“ $1380.โ€ According to a PDF attached to another email, the truck was purchased after the sale of a Chevy Silverado and insured under โ€œJRBโ€™s policy.โ€

During the briefing and shortly after Hunter Bidenโ€™s lawyer outlined the purpose of the payments, Jean-Pierre referred RCP to a spokesperson from the White House counselโ€™s office, who did not comment on the record but who was more than happy to mock Comer in public.

โ€œCan you be impeached,โ€ Ian Sams wrote on Twitter, โ€œfor Buying American?โ€

Comer had touted the payments as โ€œpart of a pattern revealing Joe Biden knew about, participated in, and benefited from his familyโ€™s influence peddling schemes.โ€ The press release from Oversight announcing the revelation, however, did not mention anything about a pickup.

Comer did emphasize, though, that the payments came not directly from Hunter Biden but from his law firm, Owasco PC. According to Oversight, that company has โ€œreceived payments from Chinese-state linked companies and other foreign nationals and companies.โ€

โ€œThis wasnโ€™t a payment from Hunter Bidenโ€™s personal account but an account for his corporation that received payments from China and other shady corners of the world,โ€ Comer said in a statement.

โ€œAt this moment, Hunter Biden is under an investigation by the Department of Justice for using Owasco PC for tax evasion and other serious crimes,โ€ the chairman continued.

The news comes as House Republicans move closer to an impeachment vote. As president, and previously while a candidate, Biden repeatedly denied discussing with his son his overseas business dealings and insisted he was โ€œnever in business with his son.โ€

This is not the first time that Hunter Bidenโ€™s automotive preferences have made headlines. Devon Archer, a former business partner of the younger Biden, testified before Congress that a Kazakh businessman, Kenes Rakishev, wired $142,000 to Hunter Biden in April 2014 to purchase a Porsche.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.