White House says ‘no evidence’ of Joe in Hunter’s shop as GOP searches bank records

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Monday that President Biden was “not involved in his son Hunter’s foreign dealings” — despite mounting evidence to the contrary as House Republicans seek bank records as evidence.

Jean-Pierre made the comment at her first briefing since US Attorney David Weiss of Delaware was granted special investigator powers on Friday to continue his years-long investigation into the first son, who is now 53.

“When you think about what Congressional Republicans have been trying to achieve for years, right? – You’ve made allegations and allegations – right? – around [the] President on this front time and time again,” the press secretary said when asked if Weiss could find evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s ventures in places like China and Ukraine.

“And month after month, year after year, they have examined every single aspect of this matter, looking for evidence to support their claims,” ​​continued Jean-Pierre. “They did[ing] for years, for months, and we’ve seen it in the last few weeks. And what was the result? If you’re wondering: what did we see from this? They keep uncovering documents and witnesses that show the President was not involved, never discussed these deals, and did nothing wrong.

“There is no evidence to the contrary. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen over the last few months. We have seen that in recent years. So I’ll leave it at that.”

In fact, there is significant and growing evidence, including testimony and documents from Hunter’s abandoned laptop, showing that Joe Biden was involved in his son’s influence dealings.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) last week urged the President to “give us his banking records” to show he wasn’t involved as Republicans get closer to opening an impeachment investigation that would… focusing on Joe Biden’s role in dealings with his relatives; and an alleged cover-up by Weiss’ office on the Hunter Biden investigation that allegedly prevented IRS investigators from focusing on Joe Biden’s alleged role.

The then-vice president allegedly attended two dinners with his son’s Russian, Kazakh and Ukrainian oligarchs and allegedly met with his son’s business associates at two different Chinese government-affiliated companies.

Joe Biden used the speakerphone about 20 times during his son’s business meetings, Hunter’s former aide Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee on July 31.

Hunter Biden wrote in emails retrieved from his former laptop that he had to give “half” his income to Joe Biden, and the House Oversight Committee in May identified nine Biden family members who allegedly drew foreign income.

The oversight committee has not yet subpoenaed banking records from members of the Biden family, but is expected to do so later this year.

Jean-Pierre made the remark in the very room where Joe Biden was sitting In 2014 he led a tour with his son Hunter and Mexican business associates whom the then second son also took to the official Vice President’s residence and contacted various officials of the Obama-Biden administration while looking for business partnerships.

Archer said in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson this month that it was “categorically wrong” to suggest that the elder Biden was not involved in Hunter’s foreign business dealings.

“He knew about Hunter’s business, he met with Hunter’s business associates, I mean, you found a letter that shows he knew me,” Archer said, referring to a Jan. 20, 2011 note from then-Vice President Biden , in which he expressed his opinion I am pleased Archer is working with Hunter and thanks him for attending a luncheon with visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Archer revealed to Congress that the elder Biden attended two separate dinners at Washington’s Cafe Milano — the first in 2014 and again in 2015 — with his son’s Eastern European and Central Asian guests, rather than just one, as previously reported.

Despite Jean-Pierre responding to a hypothetically harsh investigation by Weiss, congressional Republicans on Friday expressed dismay at the Delaware attorney’s new position, noting that he is at the center of an alleged cover-up of the case.

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who investigated Hunter for three and five years respectively, said in a recent testimony before Congress that officials in Weiss’ office blocked them from investigating Joe Biden’s role in business dealings — despite it Communications affecting him directly, including a threatening July 30, 2017 WhatsApp message in which Hunter wrote he was “sitting here with my dad” threatening retaliation if a deal fell through, immediately prior to transferring 5, $1 million from Chinese government-affiliated CEFC China Energy to Biden-affiliated accounts.

According to a May 2017 email from Hunter’s laptop, Joe Biden, dubbed “the big guy,” was earmarked for a 10 percent cut on a project with CEFC. He is said to have met twice with his son’s CEFC partners, including Tony Bobulinski, and was listed as participating in a call in October 2017 about CEFC’s attempt to buy US natural gas.

IRS investigators said that Weiss’ office never brought to their attention a tip from an FBI whistleblower referred to him that Joe Biden was allegedly involved in a $10 million bribery scheme involving Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings is involved.

Burisma also paid Hunter Biden up to $1 million a year to serve on the board, since his father led the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy.

The whistleblower told the bureau in 2020 that Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky claimed in 2016 that he was “coerced” into paying $10 million in bribes to Joe and Hunter Biden in order to help Joe Biden fire him of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was ousted in March 2016.

Archer told Congress that Hunter skipped a dinner in Dubai in December 2015 to call his father, along with Zlochevsky and Burisma executive adviser Vadym Pozharskyi, whom Joe Biden met at Cafe Milano.

Joe Biden tried to laugh off the bribery allegation by asking, “Where’s the money?” in June.

At his first dinner with Hunter’s staff at Cafe Milano, which Archer says took place sometime in the spring of 2014, the incumbent vice president reportedly dined with Russian billionaire and former Moscow First Lady Yelena Baturina. Baturina had transferred $3.5 million to an account linked to Archer and Hunter Biden in February when, following U.S. real estate investments, Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev transferred $142,300 for a luxury car for Hunter Biden , and former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov.

The second meal in April 2015 featured a different lineup – including Pozharskyi from Burisma, which added Hunter Biden and Archer to its board in spring 2014. Archer didn’t name Baturina in his statement, but Baturina was mentioned as an invitee in emails from Hunter’s laptop, and another attendee at the dinner told the Post that he saw her there earlier this year.

Baturina and another Russian billionaire Hunter worked with on a US property purchase, former military contractor Vladimir Yevtushenkov, remain unsanctioned by President Biden – who imposed tough sanctions on Russia’s business elite to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Neither of these events have we ever discussed deal details, but it was — it was, you know, a nice conversation,” Archer Carlson said of Joe Biden’s engagements with partners.

Hunter sold his ability to navigate the “regulatory environment” in Washington, which in practice means “selling access at the end of the day,” Archer said, implying that Joe Biden’s voice on the line was “valuable enough” to demonstrate Hunter’s appeal.

“From the rear,” Archer added, “I’d say it’s an abuse of soft power.”