P20210120Ck-0659: President Joe Biden, joined by First Lady Jill Biden and their children Ashley Biden and Hunter Biden, takes the oath of office as President of the United States Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Emails from a laptop the younger Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer store show the son accounting for payments to his father.
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 president’s connection to the “shady corners of the world.”
“I have to be clear with you, I have not seen that report,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told RealClearPolitics when asked about the three payments of $1,380 that occurred in between Biden’s time as vice president and president.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, however, was not unaware of the payments. They were for a truck.
“There Chairman Comer goes again – reheating what is old as new to try to revive his sham of an investigation,” Abbe Lowell said in a statement to reporters. “The truth is Hunter’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.”
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: “Ford Raptor – Reimbursement to JRB – $1380.” According to a PDF attached to another email, the truck was purchased after the sale of a Chevy Silverado and insured under “JRB’s policy.”
During the briefing and shortly after Hunter Biden’s lawyer outlined the purpose of the payments, Jean-Pierre referred RCP to a spokesperson from the White House counsel’s office, who did not comment on the record but who was more than happy to mock Comer in public.
“Can you be impeached,” Ian Sams wrote on Twitter, “for Buying American?”
Comer had touted the payments as “part of a pattern revealing Joe Biden knew about, participated in, and benefited from his family’s influence peddling schemes.” 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 “received payments from Chinese-state linked companies and other foreign nationals and companies.”
“This wasn’t a payment from Hunter Biden’s personal account but an account for his corporation that received payments from China and other shady corners of the world,” Comer said in a statement.
“At this moment, Hunter Biden is under an investigation by the Department of Justice for using Owasco PC for tax evasion and other serious crimes,” 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 “never in business with his son.”
This is not the first time that Hunter Biden’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.
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This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
Philip Wegmann
