In a Sunday evening interview, President Joe Biden defended his scandal-plagued adult son Hunter and lauded him for overcoming drug addiction.
The president emphasized to ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley that his son’s international business transactions did not clash with his former position as vice president under Barack Obama.
The international business ties of Hunter Biden were the target of an intensifying federal tax evasion investigation early this year.
Biden responded, “I adore my son, number one,” when asked whether Hunter Biden’s employment or prior drug use could be a hindrance on the 2024 campaign road.
The president went on to say, “He overcome an addiction problem and wrote about it.”
And no, I have not witnessed a single thing that would damage me or the United States in relation to my kid Hunter.
CNN reported in July that a federal inquiry into Hunter Biden’s tax returns was intensifying. Biden has previously confirmed the investigation.
In a lengthy interview on 60 Minutes, President Joe Biden was questioned whether his son Hunter Biden could be a political issue if he runs for reelection in 2024.
According to sources, prosecutors were evaluating whether or not to file charges, but were cautious of Department of Justice guidelines that discourage bringing potentially politically charged cases to light so close to an election.
Senate Republicans wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday, requesting that he extend special counsel protections to U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is supervising the Hunter investigation.
The letter states, “Given that the investigation involves the President’s son, we believe it is important to provide U.S. Attorney Weiss with special counsel authorities and protections to allow him to investigate an appropriate scope of potentially criminal conduct, avoid the appearance of impropriety, and provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is independent of political influence.”
It is led by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, along with thirty of their colleagues.
At this time, no charges appear to have been filed on Hunter Biden or anybody else involved in the investigation.
Hunter Biden has previously disclosed that the government is investigating his finances.
In 2020, congressional Republicans conducted a separate investigation into Hunter Biden’s service on the board of a Ukrainian energy business while his father led policy endeavors between Washington and Kyiv.
This investigation revealed no misconduct on the part of the president, but it did indicate that the president’s son attempted to use his father’s prominence to advance his own career.
The 52-year-old Hunter Biden had the potential to have a seismic effect on the 2020 race when the contents of a laptop hard drive that appeared to belong to him were first disclosed by the New York Post.
In addition to pornographic photographs portraying sex acts and drug usage, the laptop reportedly contained a number of emails that appear to show Hunter Biden attempting to plan meetings with his father and business acquaintances, but it is unclear how many of these encounters were really held.
At the time, however, mainstream media sources never picked up on the news, with many citing the questionable origins of the startling material. Some major media outlets said they did not have access to the hard drive independently.
This is reportedly one of the photographs discovered from Hunter Biden’s laptop hard disk.
Who Is Mentioned in the HUNTER Chinese Emails?
Hunter Biden
It was commonly known that the vice president’s son was exploring business opportunities in China. In 2013, he visited there on Air Force Two and presented his father to Jonathan Li, a business partner. After his father’s departure from politics in 2017, he pursued a connection with Ye Jianming.
Ye Jianming
43 years old, chairman and founder of CEFC China Energy. A prodigy in the Chinese energy industry. A diamond was given to Hunter in 2017 as they sought a business partnership. But in November 2017 the DOJ accused the corporation of bribery in Africa, and in March 2018 he was reportedly jailed in China on Xi Jinping’s orders. Since then, he has not been seen or heard from, but in 2018, a senior Communist leader was charged with accepting payments from him.
Zang Jian Jun
Also a key role in the China Chamber of International Commerce and a senior executive at CEFC.
Tony Bobulinski
The 48-year-old former Penn State wrestler and Navy veteran, now a California businessman, appears to have conducted more business in China. It is unclear how he and Gilliar are acquainted. Other commercial investments include a stake in the Chinese menswear manufacturer VLOV.
Rob Walker
Pilot Growth was co-founded by a former Bill Clinton administration official who is now a technology-focused private equity firm. Betsy Massey Walker was Jill Biden’s assistant during her time as Second Lady.
James Gilliar
British-born businessman, 56 years old, residing in the Czech Republic. In 2015, jc2r, the company mentioned in the emails, was founded. It is no longer operational. Gilliar and his wife Erika appear to raise race horses, and he also purports to advise a holding business run by the son of Abu Dhabi’s Emir.
James Biden
The younger brother of Joe Biden and a serial entrepreneur who has been accused of benefitting from his brother’s political career for decades. In 2006, he and Hunter acquired the financial firm Paradigm Global Advisors, which they dissolved in 2010 after connections to a Ponzi schemer came to light.
The Chairman and The Major Player
Identified as Joe Biden in numerous text exchanges, however Hunter’s communications do not explicitly mention this.