Thread: Hunter Biden Busted?

Earlier Wednesday, Hunter Biden reiterated his desire to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee

However, the report did not present evidence showing that the Biden administration meddled in the DOJ probe.

• House GOP chairmen threaten to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

A pair of House GOP committee chairmen on Wednesday threatened to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings if Hunter Biden does not agree to give a closed-door deposition next week.

Why it matters: It's the second time that House Republicans have rebuffed Biden's offer to testify publicly in front of the committee that is leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

• In a letter to Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) denied that Biden had a "choice" to make and stated that he is compelled to appear for the deposition.
• "If Mr. Biden does not appear for his deposition on December 13, 2023, the Committees will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings," he wrote.

Driving the news: Earlier Wednesday, Hunter Biden reiterated his desire to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee, alleging that the panel has used closed-door sessions to "distort" key information in its probe.

• The new request from Hunter Biden's lawyer comes after House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) last week rejected his offer to give public testimony before the committee that is leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
• Lowell wrote in a letter to Comer Wednesday that the president's son would be willing to appear before the committee on Dec. 13 or another date this month.
• "He is making this choice because the Committee has demonstrated time and again it uses closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort, the facts and misinform the American public—a hearing would ensure transparency and truth in these proceedings," Lowell stated.

The big picture: House Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden last month as part of their impeachment inquiry into President Biden, which focuses on the president's purported involvement in Hunter Biden's business dealings.

• The impeachment inquiry has not yet produced direct evidence of any wrongdoing by the president, but House Republicans are planning to hold a formal vote to authorize the inquiry.
• A staff report released this week from the GOP-led committees leading the investigation alleged the Department of Justice gave preferential, "kid-glove" treatment to Hunter Biden.
• However, the report did not present evidence showing that the Biden administration meddled in the DOJ probe.

House GOP Threatens To Hold Hunter Biden In Contempt If He Refuses Closed-Door Questioning

Idiots the lot of them. Dumber than dirt.

The law of holes, or the first law of holes, is an adage which states: "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."

"A pair of House GOP committee chairmen on Wednesday threatened to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings if Hunter Biden does not agree to give a closed-door deposition next week."

^ That is a pretty smooth move in controlling the narrative!

• Hunter Biden faces nine criminal charges in federal tax case

Hunter Biden has been charged in connection with a long-running Justice Department investigation into his taxes – the second criminal case that special counsel David Weiss has brought against President Joe Biden’s son.

The charges span nine counts, including failure to file and pay taxes; evasion of assessment; and false or fraudulent tax return. CNN was first to report a new criminal case had been filed.

The case was close to being resolved in July when a plea deal fell apart. The new tax case stems from Hunter Biden’s lucrative overseas business dealings, which are at the center of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

Now, the president will be campaigning for a second White House term and fighting a Republican impeachment bid while his son fights to avoid prison in two criminal cases.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers did not immediately comment, and CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

According to court filings from the now-defunct plea deal, Hunter Biden repeatedly missed IRS deadlines to pay his federal taxes on time, and eventually owed about $2 million to the government. He paid the money back in 2021, with a loan from a friend.

Federal prosecutors have been scrutinizing Hunter Biden’s finances since 2018, and Trump-appointed US attorney David Weiss was designated special counsel in August.

The probe appeared to be winding down this summer when Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors, and prosecutors would recommend no jail time. They also agreed that a gun charge would be dropped in two years if he stayed out of legal trouble.

But both proposed deals collapsed after scrutiny from a federal judge and disagreements over the fine print. Then Weiss indicted Hunter Biden in September on three charges related to his purchase of a gun from a shop in Delaware in 2018 at a time prosecutors say he was an illegal drug user. He has pleaded not guilty in the gun possession and false statements case.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys previously accused Weiss of “bending to political pressure” from Republicans and said that his actions “present a grave threat to our system of justice.”

One of the reasons Republicans have attacked Weiss is because of testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who were involved in the probe and said they witnessed political interference by the Justice Department. The whistleblowers said career IRS agents recommended felony tax charges against Hunter Biden in early 2022.

Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland have refuted the whistleblowers’ claims.

Hunter Biden made millions of dollars from private equity deals, corporate consulting and legal fees in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Prosecutors previously said he had the money to buy luxury items like a Porsche and was warned about his looming tax bills by accountants and associates – but still missed the IRS deadlines.

House Republicans have zeroed in on many of these overseas deals as part of their own probes.

They’ve uncovered some evidence that Hunter Biden leveraged his father’s position to make money. But their impeachment inquiry is largely based on their unproven claims that Joe Biden was involved in “corrupt” business deals with his son.

To date, federal prosecutors have never offered any evidence backing up GOP claims that Joe Biden was in business with his son or abused his powers to enrich his family.

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Extra

I investigated tax crimes.

The fact of the matter is no one goes to jail anymore for not paying their taxes on time, as much as the WSJ would like one to think they do.

You or I would not go to jail for doing what Hunter did because hardly anyone does and that is the point of having a professional tax enforcement establishment—to ensure a fair and just treatment of those that violate the law.

But..But....What about the Big Guy?

Biden's son refuses to answer questions behind closed doors

Karen Nielsen

Businessman Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has defied a summons from the US Congress to testify. The reason is that it had to take place behind closed doors, writes the AP news agency.

Hunter Biden fears his statements will be manipulated if the doors are not open.

- What are they afraid of? I'm right here, I'm ready," Hunter Biden said outside the congressional building in Washington, D.C.

A House committee wants Hunter Biden to testify in an effort to build an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden.

The claim is that Hunter Biden has gained business benefits from his father's role first as vice president and then as president. Something he refuses.

The GOP inquiry has so far failed to provide direct evidence the president committed any wrongdoing, broke the law, or benefited financially from his son's business dealings.

Hunter Biden slams GOP investigation before deposition deadline

Hunter Biden, in a rare public statement, said Wednesday that he would not sit for a closed-door deposition before the GOP-led House Oversight Committee and railed against Republicans' probe.

Driving the news: "For six years, I have been a target of the unrelenting Trump-attack machine shouting, 'Where's Hunter?' Well, here's my answer. I am here," Hunter Biden said outside the U.S . Capitol.

• "I'm here today to make sure that the House committee's illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies," Hunter Biden said.
• The remarks came hours before the GOP-led House was set to vote on formally authorizing its impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Zoom in: Hunter Biden rebuked GOP efforts to tie the president to his son's business dealings.

• "Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist."

Hunter Biden, who said that he has "made mistakes" in his life, also accused House Republicans of trying to "dehumanize me all to embarrass and damage my father."

• "They ridiculed my struggle with addiction. They belittled my recovery and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father, who has devoted his entire life to service."

Catch up quick: House Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden as part of the impeachment inquiry. They set a Dec. 13 deadline for the president's son to testify behind closed doors.

• Hunter Biden said late last month that he would be willing to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee.
• The GOP inquiry has so far failed to provide direct evidence the president committed any wrongdoing, broke the law, or benefited financially from his son's business dealings.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

"Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist."

Very specific

Which means that he was involved in other ways.

Yes , he was snorting coke off tattooed hookers and streaming it to only fans via a laptop

So I have heard via the reception afforded from my Walmart prince Albert antenna which receives q anon broadcasting

• House Republicans ask White House for records on Hunter Biden deposition

House Republicans were surprised by Hunter Biden’s press conference outside the Capitol earlier this month. And now, they are hunting for potential details on the backstory.

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday, requesting records related to Hunter Biden’s deposition with the House investigators. The president’s son had been subpoenaed to appear behind closed doors on Dec. 13. But he did not, reiterating that he was willing to testify publicly instead.

The two chairs are requesting documents and communications sent or received by Executive Office of the President employees related to Hunter Biden’s scheduled deposition.

“In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the President engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,” Comer and Jordan wrote in the letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel.

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• Court Date Set in Hunter Biden's California Tax Case

Hunter Biden is set to appear in a California courtroom next month on nine tax counts, the latest fallout from a special counsel investigation into his business affairs.

President Joe Biden's son is scheduled for an initial appearance at an arraignment in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, according to a federal court calendar posted Monday.

He is facing three felony and six misdemeanor counts, including filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file and failure to pay. Prosecutors say he spent millions on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.

His defense attorney has said that prosecutors bowed to political pressure in bringing the case and Hunter Biden was targeted because of his father’s political position.

The cases come after the implosion of a plea deal involving tax and gun counts that would have spared him jail time. Instead, Hunter Biden is now also charged with federal firearms courts in Delaware alleging he broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics...ornia-tax-case

• House GOP plans first step toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

House Republicans will take a first step next week toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, after he skipped a closed-door interview last month.

The House Oversight and Judiciary committees will vote Wednesday on resolutions to hold Hunter Biden in contempt, paving the way for a floor vote in which Republicans will need near unity from their increasingly narrow majority.

“Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution. We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name,” Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a joint statement.

Both committees are also expected to issue a report, which hasn't been released yet, making their case for why they believe the president’s son should be held in contempt.

Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell, in a statement, said, "It’s clear the Republican Chairmen aren’t interested in getting the facts or they would allow Hunter to testify publicly. Instead, House Republicans continue to play politics by seeking an unprecedented contempt motion against someone who has from the first request offered to answer all their proper questions. What are they afraid of?”

The top Democrat on the Oversight panel, Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said in a statement that "there is no precedent for the U.S. House of Representatives holding a private citizen in contempt of Congress who has offered to testify in public, under oath, and on a day of the Committee’s choosing."

It’s the latest in the standoff between House Republicans and Hunter Biden, whose legal team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Republicans will ultimately need the Justice Department to agree to enforce any referral — making it unlikely that Hunter Biden will face new charges.

Republicans subpoenaed the president’s son to appear behind closed doors for an interview on Dec. 13. Instead, Biden skipped the appearance and spoke briefly to reporters outside of the Capitol, defending his father, President Joe Biden, and reiterating that he is willing to take part in a public hearing.

Congressional Democrats, the White House and Hunter Biden allies have criticized Republicans for refusing to accept the offer for public testimony, pointing back to remarks from Comer earlier last year where he seemed open to the idea. But House Republicans have rejected holding a public hearing — unless Hunter Biden meets with them privately first — arguing that the president’s son shouldn’t dictate their subpoenas.

Republicans are months into their investigation aimed at President Joe Biden that has largely focused on the business deals of his family members. They view Hunter Biden as one of their biggest targets. They are also working to get interviews with James Biden, Joe Biden’s brother, and Rob Walker, a Hunter Biden business associate.

The contempt step comes as Republicans are nearing a decision about whether or not to pursue articles of impeachment against Joe Biden. It is far from clear they will have the votes to impeach him, even after Republicans voted to formalize their inquiry last month.

Republicans have poked holes in previous statements by Joe Biden and the White House, and they’ve found evidence of Hunter Biden using his last name to try to build his own influence. But they’ve struggled to find a smoking gun that shows actions taken by Joe Biden as president or vice president were meant to benefit his family’s business deals.

_________

“Instead of taking yes for an answer, Chairman Comer has now obstructed his own hapless investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee’s questions in front of the American people and the world,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

“Chairman Comer does not want Hunter Biden to testify in public, just as he has refused to publicly release over a dozen interview transcripts, because he wants to keep up the carefully curated distortions, blatant lies, and laughable conspiracy theories that have marked this investigation. However, the facts and the evidence all show no wrongdoing and no impeachable offense by President Biden.”

• House Republicans release contempt resolution against Hunter Biden

House Republicans on Monday released a resolution recommending that the chamber find Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, after the president's son failed to comply with a subpoena for closed-door testimony.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, released the resolution and an accompanying report Monday. The panel will consider the resolution Wednesday morning.

"Mr. Biden's flagrant defiance of the Committees' deposition subpoenas — while choosing to appear nearby on the Capitol grounds to read a prepared statement on the same matters — is contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions," the House Republicans' report said. "Accordingly, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability recommends that Congress find Robert Hunter Biden in contempt for his failure to comply with the committee subpoena issued to him."

A majority of the GOP-controlled House must approve the resolution.

"Hunter Biden's willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney's Office for prosecution," said Comer and House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan in a joint statement. "We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name."

When Republicans threatened Hunter Biden last week with a contempt of Congress vote, Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's lawyer, said in a statement to CBS News that House Republicans "continue to play politics."

"It's clear the Republican chairmen aren't interested in getting the facts or they would allow Hunter to testify publicly," Lowell said. "Instead, House Republicans continue to play politics by seeking an unprecedented contempt motion against someone who has from the first request offered to answer all their proper questions," he said. "What are they afraid of?"

• Hunter Biden: House Republicans back contempt of Congress charges

House Republicans shocked as Hunter Biden arrives at House contempt hearing

Hunter Biden shocked Republicans on Wednesday, after unexpectedly arriving at a House hearing on the charges of contempt of Congress against him.

The Oversight Committee was meeting to consider a resolution to hold the president's son in contempt for defying a House subpoena.

Cameras blazed as he strode into the room with his attorney, Abbe Lowell.

Republicans appeared angered by the move, with Rep Nancy Mace accusing him of "white privilege".

"I think that Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail," the South Carolina congresswoman said. "Our nation is founded on the rule of law and the premise that the law applies equally to everyone, no matter what your last name is."

Democrats on the panel urged Republicans to allow Mr Biden, who sat in the audience, to be allowed to speak. But chair James Comer, who at times struggled to control the hearing, declined: "Mr Biden doesn't make the rules, we make the rules."

Mr Biden exited Congress without speaking at the hearing a short time later. He exited the room as right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene began to speak.

The Georgia representative, who has previously displayed nude images of Mr Biden during hearings, called him a "coward".

Though he remained largely quiet as he left the Capitol, Mr Biden did answer one question. It centred on why he allegedly put his father on speakerphone in roughly 20 business meetings he held during Joe Biden's vice-presidency.

"If he called you, would you answer the phone?" the president's son said.

The Oversight Committee is planning to consider the contempt resolution later on Wednesday. Its passage through that body is the first step toward it being considered by the wider House.

For Mr Biden to be held in contempt it would require a simple majority in the chamber, which Republicans hold by a slim two-seat margin.

The 53-year-old's lawyer, Mr Lowell, who accompanied him, reprimanded Republicans for using Mr Biden as a "surrogate to attack his father", President Joe Biden. House Republicans have alleged that Mr Biden and his family unfairly profited from the elder Biden's longstanding political status in Washington.

The White House and Hunter Biden have denied the allegations.

Hunter Biden was subpoenaed to testify privately about his business dealings for the impeachment case against his father last year.

In November, he told House Republicans that he was willing to testify to the Oversight Committee, but only if it was a public hearing. His counsel, Mr Lowell, said it would "let the light shine" on the proceedings.

Republicans refused, and instead Mr Biden made a rare in-person statement outside the Capitol on the day he was to appear before Congress. He slammed Republicans, alleging they had "distorted the facts" and called for a public hearing.

The younger Biden is also facing charges for possession of a gun while being an admitted drug addict and for lying on a federal form.

Hunter Biden makes surprise appearance at House hearing to hold him in contempt

• House Republicans hit pause on effort to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress

The House has stopped moving forward with a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after Biden’s lawyers and the House Judiciary and Oversight committees renewed their conversations about scheduling a date for the president’s son to appear and testify.

The two Republican-led committees voted last week to recommend that the full House hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena in the Republican impeachment inquiry into his father. The younger Biden had offered to testify at a public hearing, and he appeared on Capitol Hill to make a statement in December on the day ordered in his subpoena but did not appear for the closed-door testimony the committees requested.

After the contempt vote, Biden’s lead attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a letter to the committees that the subpoenas were “legally invalid” because they were issued before the House’s vote last month to authorize the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, but he said that if the committees issued new subpoenas, Hunter Biden’s legal team would accept it on their client’s behalf. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said they would issue new subpoenas, and sources said Monday that the committee chairmen would be willing to recommend to leadership to hold off on a potential vote to hold Biden in contempt of Congress if he genuinely cooperated with the committee and worked to set a date for a closed-door deposition.

“Following an exchange of letters between the parties on January 12 and January 14, staff for the committees and lawyers for Hunter Biden are working to schedule Hunter Biden’s appearance,” a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said. “Negotiations are ongoing this afternoon, and in conjunction with the disruption to member travel and cancelling votes, the House Rules Committee isn’t considering the contempt resolution today to give the attorneys additional time to reach an agreement.”

Hunter Biden’s legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Hunter Biden's gun pouch contained cocaine residue, prosecutor reveals

Investigators found cocaine residue on a leather pouch where Hunter Biden stored his gun, federal prosecutors revealed in a court filing as they urged a judge not to dismiss weapons charges against the president's son.

Snapping back at allegations by Hunter Biden's lawyers that the gun charges were "trumped up" under political pressure, Justice Department special counsel David Weiss said in a court filing that “the strength of the evidence against him is overwhelming" and stood out "from any other person who was not prosecuted for similar crimes.”

The clash came as the younger Biden battles criminal indictments on both coasts and a slew of Congressional investigations that seek to tie him and his foreign business dealings to President Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden was indicted in his home state of Delaware last September on three federal charges alleging he lied about his drug addiction when buying a gun in 2018. The indictment came after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected a plea deal that would have resolved potential tax and gun indictments in July. Congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump criticized the scuttled deal as too lenient, leading Biden’s lawyer to argue that the charges were spurred by political pressure.

But Weiss argued that Biden had failed to show that other people weren’t charged for similar actions. Biden demonstrated no "improper political purpose" in asking to dismiss the prosecution, one authorized by the attorney general his father appointed, Weiss wrote.

“The charges in this case are not trumped up or because of former President Trump – they are instead a result of the defendant’s own choices and were brought in spite of, not because of, any outside noise made by politicians,” Weiss wrote.

Biden faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on all three gun charges, although first-time offenders are typically given shorter terms.

Biden was charged under a statute forbidding people who are addicted to narcotics from owning firearms. He is accused of lying about his addiction in 2018 in a statement to a gun dealer and on a federal form, and then by possessing the Colt Cobra 38SPL.

Biden had asked the judge to dismiss the gun charges on the grounds that prosecutors had reneged on promises they made while negotiating the failed the failed plea agreement.

But Weiss argued Biden knows full well why he was charged, and that's for illegally owning the Colt revolver and lying about his addition. After the federal investigation was announced, in 2020, Biden wrote a memoir the next year recounting years of drug abuse, including during the period when he bought the gun.

Investigators obtained messages from Biden's Apple iCloud account in which he discussed buying thousands of dollars’ worth of crack cocaine while also taking videos of himself weighing crack and smoking it, Weiss wrote. A chemist confirmed the presence of cocaine residue on the brown leather pouch in which Biden stored the gun, Weiss wrote.

“Stripped of its bluster, the defendant’s theory of vindictiveness is simply not credible,” Weiss added.

• Hunter Biden to sit for Feb. 28 deposition with House Republicans
  

Hunter Biden will appear before the Republican-led House Oversight and Judiciary Committees committees for a deposition on Feb. 28 as part of Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Biden, the panels' chairs announced Thursday.

Why it matters: The announcement comes after top House Republicans last week threatened to vote on holding him in contempt of Congress despite an offer from his legal team to sit for the closed-door deposition GOP lawmakers have demanded.

Driving the news: His deposition "will come after several interviews with Biden family members and associates," per a statement from House Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "We look forward to Hunter Biden's testimony."

What we're watching: The Republicans' inquiry has so far failed to show direct evidence the president broke the law or committed any other wrongdoing, such as benefiting financially from his son's business dealings.

• Hunter Biden benefactor alleges Rep. James Comer mischaracterized his testimony

An attorney for Kevin Morris, a lawyer for Hunter Biden who loaned him millions of dollars to pay his tax bills, is accusing Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., of mischaracterizing testimony Morris made in a closed-door committee hearing Thursday.

"Not two hours after we left Mr. Morris’ transcribed interview, you issued a press statement with cherry‐picked, out of context and totally misleading descriptions of what Mr. Morris said," Morris' attorney, Bryan Sullivan, wrote in a letter to Comer obtained by NBC News. "So much for the promise of your staff that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly."

The letter demands that the entire transcript of Morris' interview be released immediately. The interview lasted about five hours and was attended by staff and members of the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees.

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said the transcript will affirm Comer’s description of the interview. “The Committee intends to release the transcript soon but we do not have it from the court reporter at this time,” the spokesperson added.

A Hollywood-based attorney, Morris became friends with Hunter Biden in 2019. NBC News has previously reported that Morris began advising the younger Biden in 2020 and arranged to pay about $2 million in outstanding tax obligations to the IRS for him in 2020 and 2021.

After Morris' deposition, Comer, who serves as chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, released a statement that said Morris' "massive financial support to Hunter Biden raises ethical and campaign finance concerns for President Joe Biden."

"Shortly after meeting Hunter Biden at a Joe Biden campaign event in 2019, Kevin Morris began paying Hunter Biden’s tax liability to insulate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden from political liability," the statement added. "Kevin Morris admitted he has ‘loaned’ the president’s son at least $5 million."

In his letter to Comer, Sullivan said the loans were reviewed by lawyers to make sure they were proper and that he expects Hunter to pay them back. Sullivan also pushed back against Comer's claim that Morris loaned Hunter money to shield his father from political liability.

"This misstates Mr. Morris’ testimony," Sullivan wrote. "Rather, Mr. Morris was concerned only that people like you not drag him into things like former President Trump’s impeachment, began helping Mr. Hunter Biden for that reason, and Mr. Morris testified that he never thought about President Biden’s campaign, that he was only focused on helping his client Mr. Hunter Biden."

"We do not have to have this dueling rendition of what Mr. Morris actually said. Just release the full transcript," Sullivan added in his letter. "Why would you be reluctant or afraid to do that, other than it will disprove your spin? Let the public see the truth."

In a statement to NBC News, Morris offered a harsh assessment of the Republicans seeking to impeach Joe Biden.

"They bring up something totally innocuous and legal, get nowhere with it, and they run to the cameras and make spooky noises," he said. "What they do has an elementary school quality to it."

• Hunter Biden benefactor defends millions in loans and close friendship

Hollywood lawyer and Hunter Biden benefactor Kevin Morris told House GOP investigators that he paid millions of dollars worth of expenses for the president’s son through loans due to a close friendship, with no suggestion or expectation that he would receive any special benefits from the White House or the president.

Morris — who has helped Hunter Biden pay for around $5 million of dollars in tax, legal, housing, and public relations expenses — said that while there was not initially a clear agreement for repayment, the terms of an agreement later drawn up by their lawyers doesn’t require repayment until 2025.

Morris spoke to the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees last week in a closed-door interview as part of the Republican investigations into the Biden family’s business dealings and the handling of the tax crimes investigation into Hunter Biden, which Republicans have put under the umbrella of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The committees released the transcript of that interview Tuesday.

Release of the transcript came after public squabbling over its contents. An attorney for Morris last week accused the Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee of cherry-picking his testimony soon after it concluded.

Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), in a statement after the interview but before the transcript was released, had seemed to imply that the payments weren’t loans, using the word only in quotes and saying the lawyer had “access” to the White House.

Morris said he had been to the White House just three times while Joe Biden was president, and only exchanged pleasantries with the commander in chief. Hunter Biden gave him a tour of the White House in 2021, during which Morris said the president waved and “made a crack about my hair” — “He always makes jokes about my hair.” Morris also attended the 2022 wedding of Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden’s daughter, where he gave the president “a quick hello,” and he attended the Independence Day picnic in 2023.

Morris repeatedly said he got no benefit, favor, or consideration from the White House for paying the younger Biden’s taxes and consistently denied any connection with a foreign government.

And despite the unorthodox arrangement between the two men, Morris was insistent he expected the loan to be repaid, despite assertions from Republicans they might be forgiven.

“I loaned money. I didn’t pay for anything,” Morris said at one point.

Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for Oversight and Investigations, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Morris transcript was the “latest in House GOP ‘failure theater,’” saying Morris testified he “never discussed business with President Biden and never sought or received any benefit from him.”

The interview, though, provides some insight into a relationship that has long confounded Republicans.

Morris has served as both Biden’s attorney and as his friend, saying he felt a connection of brotherhood with the president’s son from their first meeting.

“In what I do, I become very close to my clients, and I don’t — you know, and I usually — I almost always become friends with them. That’s just the way I do it. You know, some people don’t think that’s a good idea. That’s just the way I do it. I’m in their life. I’m in their corner,” Morris told investigators.

• Hunter Biden business associate tells Oversight Committee President Biden was 'never involved' in Hunter's business dealings

Rob Walker, a longtime business associate of Hunter Biden, said in a closed-door interview on Friday with the GOP-led House Oversight Committee that President Joe Biden "was never involved" in Hunter Biden's business dealings, according to Walker's opening statement obtained by ABC News.

"To be clear, President Biden -- while in office or as a private citizen -- was never involved in any of the business activities we pursued. Any statement to the contrary is simply false," Walker said in his opening statement.

Walker added that the president's son "made sure there was always a clear boundary between any business and his father. Always. And as his partner, I always understood and respected that boundary."

During the interview, Walker submitted the statement to the record and read it verbatim, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.

In his opening statement, Walker also expressed concern that his words would be taken out of context by House Republicans.

Walker's statement that President Biden had no involvement with Hunter's business dealings matches what numerous previous associates have told the Oversight Committee as Republicans continue their impeachment inquiry into the president.

Hunter Biden had initially balked at the committee's request to interview him behind closed doors for fear of Republicans mischaracterizing his testimony in the same way that his confidant Kevin Morris has accused them of doing. Earlier this month, however, Hunter Biden and the panel struck a deal for him to testify behind closed doors at the end of February.

Members from the three committees charged with leading the impeachment inquiry -- judiciary, oversight and ways and means -- will be able to attend and ask questions during Hunter Biden’s testimony.

"We have a lot of questions," said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer.

A House Oversight Committee report recommending a contempt charge against Hunter Biden stated that his testimony was "necessary" to determine whether there are "sufficient grounds" for impeachment of the president. Comer said earlier this month that "we're very concerned that the president of the United States could be compromised."

Hunter Biden and his allies have denounced the Republican-led probe as nothing more than an effort to smear his father's political career. Joe Biden has denied any financial involvement in his son's business activities, and the panel has yet to find evidence of a crime by the president.

The younger Biden faces two federal criminal cases brought by special counsel David Weiss in California and Delaware related to alleged tax and gun violations, respectively. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

• Impeachment Witnesses Keep Undermining Corruption Allegations Against Joe Biden

All the witnesses Republicans called in for depositions as part of their impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden in January said that they knew of no corruption on Biden’s part.

Eric Schwerin, a Biden family friend who partnered with the president’s son Hunter Biden in business and also did bookkeeping for the father, told lawmakers on Tuesday that he was not aware of Joe Biden benefiting financially from his son’s work.

“Given my awareness of his finances and the explicit directions he gave to his financial advisers, the allegation that he would engage in any improper conduct to benefit himself or his family is preposterous to me,” Schwerin said in an opening statement obtained by HuffPost.

Four other Hunter Biden associates also told lawmakers this month that they’d never witnessed improper behavior by the president, nor efforts by his son to entangle him in a foreign business deal.

It’s a continuation of the pattern set in motion last year by House oversight committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who has struggled to prove his accusations that the president enriched himself by participating in his son’s alleged “influence peddling” schemes.

“We have a consistent pattern of witnesses coming in and telling us that Joe Biden just was not involved in any of the business affairs that the Republicans are talking about,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the oversight committee, told HuffPost.

Comer said Tuesday that Schwerin’s testimony actually did reveal something bad: that Schwerin, while he was in business with Hunter Biden, provided bookkeeping services to the elder Biden when he was vice president — for free. (Schwerin’s involvement in the family finances has long been known.)

“This guy was doing Joe Biden’s books, paying his electric bills and depositing his paycheck and his income tax refund, and he never charged Joe Biden — that is a gift, that is a clear ethics violation by Joe Biden,” Comer said on Fox News. “There was not a wall between Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and his schemes like the president has always said.”

Ethics rules generally forbid gifts (including discounted goods or services) to executive branch officials, though there are exceptions, including for gifts that are based on a personal or family relationship. It’s possible Schwerin’s bookkeeping would qualify for an exception.

“A gift of free bookkeeping assistance from a family friend would seem to fall within the scope of the personal relationship exception that applies to government employees under applicable ethics gift rules,” Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel with the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in a statement to HuffPost.

_________

• 'His Biden investigation has collapsed': James Comer ridiculed after begging for cash

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is being ridiculed for a recent fundraising appeal claiming that they "hit a brick wall" with campaign cash.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) trolled the House Oversight and Reform Committee chair on Thursday by posting a screen capture of the email and pointing out Comer's continued failure to find information so he can impeach President Joe Biden.

"No sh_t," Swalwell said on social media. "How pathetic is this guy? His Biden investigation has collapsed and now he’s coming to me for money! Sorry, Comer Pyle!"

The reference is to witnesses brought into the committee to testify over the past several weeks, who failed to deliver any information of financial impropriety from the president.

One witness, a friend of Hunter Biden's, revealed that his loans to the president's son came with restrictions and interest and were drafted by his lawyers. He told the committee he never got anything from the president due to the loans and never discussed the matter with him.

The elder Biden's bookkeeper, Eric Schwerin, testified that he saw every dollar that came and went out of President Biden's accounts, and not once did he see anything unusual.

"In fact," he continued, "I am not aware of any role that Vice President Biden, as a public official or as a private citizen, had in any of Hunter's business activities. None."

_________

extra

• Republican Party reveals it's had the worst fundraising year in a decade

The political party race for cash is leaving the GOP in the dust.

The Guardian's Hugo Lowell noted new numbers released by the Federal Elections Commission show the Republican National Committee has just $8 million cash on hand at the end of 2023 after the lowest fundraising year since 2013, which was the year after Republicans lost a presidential race.

Donald Trump has also had money problems after spending $50 million on lawyers and legal fees. More than half, $27 million, was spent in the last six months of 2023.

Just a few months ago, the Washington Post reported that there was just $9.1 million in the bank as of Oct. 30, 2023. At that time, it was the lowest the FEC showed for the party since Feb. 2015, and it dropped further in the remaining months of the year.

"That compares with about $20 million at the same point in the 2016 election cycle and about $61 million four years ago, when Trump was in the White House," the Post reported at the time.

Tennessee RNC member Oscar Brock told the Post in October, "It’s a revenue problem." The party was forced to start tightening expenses.

According to the Post, "donors have not cut as many large checks to the RNC in recent years, and the party’s small-dollar program has also suffered, according to people familiar with the party’s finances, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party details."

All of this comes as three state Republican Parties are in disarray. The Michigan Republican Party is in a battle of the chairs, with two different people claiming to be the group's president.

The Oklahoma Republican Party voted to censure Sen. James Lankford after it was reported he was working with Democrats to craft a bipartisan immigration bill, though the chair of that party claimed that it was invalid because the vice chair went "rogue."

The chairs of both Florida and Arizona have been forced out in recent months. In Florida, they ousted the chair after rape allegations. In Arizona, the chair resigned amid a scandal in which he was recorded by Kari Lake as he encouraged her to drop out of the race.

This is as funny as fuck.

The whole Hunter Biden bribery scandal, and thus the sleepy joe impeachment, turns out to be a complete crock of shit fed to the "informant" by Russian intelligence.

Hannity apparently did 85 separate segments on this story and has yet to comment funnily enough

Alexander Smirnov, an ex-FBI informant, admitted in a post-arrest interrogation that Russian intelligence sources were behind his claims that Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden accepted bribes from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, according to new court filings.
Smirnov, an ex-FBI informant, was arrested last week, and federal prosecutors indicted him on charges of lying to officials and falsifying records related to his claims that both Joe Biden and Hunter Biden each accepted $5 million dollar bribes from Burisma Holdings officials to protect the company and its executives "from all kinds of problems."
The GOP has touted Smirnov as a star "whistleblower" witness in their efforts to impeach President Joe Biden.
Representatives for the White House and lawyers for Smirnov and Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Smirnov first claimed that the Bidens accepted bribes in reports to his FBI handler in June 2020. His allegations were based on several purported meetings he had with officials from Burisma Holdings. In the reported meetings, Smirnov claimed Burisma officials said the bribes to the Bidens would enable Hunter Biden to quash, through his father, a criminal investigation that the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General was conducting into the company.
The events Smirnov recounted to his FBI handler in June 2020 "were fabrications," prosecutors alleged in the pre-trial detention memo filed Tuesday, which states Smirnov only had contact with Burisma executives after the end of the Obama-Biden administration and after the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General had been fired in February 2016.
"In other words, when Public Official 1 had no ability to influence US policy and when the Prosecutor General was no longer in office," the memo reads. "In short, Smirnov transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against Public Official 1, the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for President, after expressing bias against Public Official 1 and his candidacy."
Following his February 14 arrest at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Smirnov "admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved" in passing along the story, prosecutors with special counsel David Weiss' office noted in a pretrial memo. The memo also indicates that Smirnov met with Russian intelligence officials as recently as December of 2023.

DOJ: Alexander Smirnov Says Russian Intelligence Behind Biden Bribery Claim

• Hunter Biden says special counsel used Alexander Smirnov’s discredited bribery claims to derail his plea deal

Hunter Biden’s lawyers accused special counsel David Weiss on Tuesday of using a since-discredited bribery allegation from an FBI informant to blow up his plea deal last year.

In a court filing Tuesday, attorneys for the president’s son asked a judge to force Weiss’ team to turn over additional information about the plea deal that went awry, and to provide materials about their discussions regarding a tip from by Alexander Smirnov, a 43-year-old former informant who was indicted for lying to the FBI about the Bidens’ alleged business dealings.

“It now seems clear that the Smirnov allegations infected this case,” they wrote, adding that prosecutors followed Smirnov down a “rabbit hole of lies” and “having taken Mr. Smirnov’s bait of grand, sensational charges, the Diversion Agreement that had just been entered into and Plea Agreement that was on the verge of being finalized suddenly became inconvenient for the prosecution, and it reversed course and repudiated those Agreements.”

Weiss was appointed special counsel several weeks after the July 26 plea hearing.

House Republicans have championed Smirnov’s uncorroborated bribery claims against the Bidens and used his tips to fuel their impeachment inquiry into the president.

During the plea hearing that fell apart in Delaware last summer, both sides tussled over the breadth of the immunity provisions, which only covered gun and tax matters. Prosecutors were asked directly if the Justice Department could still bring charges against Hunter Biden under the Foreign Agents Registration Act despite the deal.

“Yes,” lead prosecutor Leo Wise told the judge.

Hunter Biden’s attorney, Christopher Clark, said he disagreed with the prosecutor’s assertion.

“Then there is no deal,” Wise responded.

Despite efforts to amend the deal during the July hearing, the judge did not accept the agreement.

Weiss’ special counsel office indicted Hunter Biden in September on three charges related to an illegal purchase and possession of a gun while addicted to drugs. Weiss also indicted Hunter Biden in December on nine tax-related charges over an alleged scheme to not pay $1.4 million in taxes he owed from 2016 to 2019. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Tuesday’s filing from Hunter Biden’s attorney also accused prosecutors of failing to abide by their obligation to turn over discovery in the Delaware case, including over allegations that Hunter Biden’s alleged gun bag had cocaine on it.