President Joe Biden on Thursday responded to questions about being “compromised” by his family’s business deals in China during a press conference about unidentified flying objects and the Chinese spy balloon shot down weeks ago.
“Are you compromised by your family’s business relations in China?” a reporter asked.
“Give me a break, man,” Biden said, without denying the question.
The question is the second query Biden has suffered recently about his family’s shady business deals spanning 12 countries over the course of his career as a U.S. official, according to House Republicans.
Last week, Joe Biden was asked in a sit-down interview with PBS News about the House Republicans’ investigations into his family’s business schemes. Biden replied, “The public isn’t going to pay attention” to the nine GOP probes into his family, such as money laundering, wire fraud, and tax evasion.
The questions represent a new communications problem for the Biden team. The establishment media has begun to ask more questions about his family’s business schemes since Republicans regained control of the House and specifically the Oversight and Judiciary Committees.
House Republicans are investigating the Biden family business by requesting bank records and communications from Hunter and James Biden to learn if Joe Biden is compromised. Hunter has refused the request, while James has apparently not responded, causing House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) to threaten subpoenas.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is seen in front of a newspaper page with a photograph of Hunter Biden and his father President Joe Biden during the Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media hearing on Wednesday, February 08, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“We can’t fully understand the extent of what these laws need to be until we know the exact amount of money that the Biden family took in, including from the sources,” Comer (R-KY) told Fox News, noting the family has made at least “tens of millions of dollars” from many business deals spanning at least 12 separate nations over the years, including when Joe Biden was vice president. Comer explained:
The Democrats have been complaining about influence peddling. The Biden family has obviously been influence peddling. So we need to define what is “influence peddling.” We need to make stricter ethics laws. We also need to increase disclosure laws for family members doing business overseas with our advisories while they have a relative that serves in the White House.
Hunter’s business deals are well-recorded. According to Hunter’s “Laptop from Hell,” an email shows a proposed percentage distribution of equity in a company created for a joint venture with CEFC China Energy Co. and Hunter’s former business partner, Tony Bobulinski, the Biden family, and high-ranking members of the Chinese Communist Party. Sent on March 13, 2017, the proposed business venture included “10 held by H for the big guy?”
Bobulinski confirmed “the big guy” was a reference to Joe Biden.
James Biden, Joe Biden’s older brother, and Frank Biden, Joe Biden’s younger brother have also engaged in influence peddling. Frank Biden has admitted he did so while Biden was president, CNN reported. And on Tuesday, reports surfaced that James Biden secretly negotiated a $140 million settlement deal in 2012 between a U.S. company and the Saudi Arabian government because of his relationship with then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
