Corruption Case: Did Joe Biden Benefit From Hunter's Cash Bonanza?

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources to the Biden family. Does the expose cast a shadow on President Joe Biden?

House GOP investigators released a third bank records memorandum as part of their investigation into the family of President Joe Biden on August 9. The memorandum indicated that during Joe Biden's vice presidency, his family collected over $20 million from Ukrainian, Kazakh, Chinese, Russian, and Romanian nationals in exchange for protection, assistance, and access to the then-veep. According to the investigators, Joe Biden's son, Hunter, was selling the family "brand" for top dollar.

"Unfortunately, it is clear from the evidence contained on Hunter Biden’s laptop, that has been in the possession of the FBI since December 2019, and the various bank records and shell companies uncovered, that Hunter Biden is indeed an integral part of the Biden corruption scheme that includes the current president, Joe Biden," Marc Little, a conservative political commentator and executive director of CURE America Action, told Sputnik.

"It is without question that Joe Biden is the head of the influence-peddling scheme that has enriched his family to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. What is equally troubling is this is not a secret to the US intelligence community that has actively fought to conceal from the public that the president has been compromised for a very long time. America has been for sale by the Biden family for years as that is now clear from bank records obtained by the Oversight Committee," the commentator argued.

Did Joe Biden Benefit From His Son's Business?

The GOP-led committee's release has prompted a lively debate in the US press with liberal-leaning news outlets arguing that the incumbent president had not profited personally from Hunter's alleged influence-peddling schemes. For their part, US conservative media is insisting that Joe "absolutely" benefited from his son's foreign business.

To back their claim, the conservatives unearthed Hunter's old message, emanating from the so-called "laptop from hell" in which the younger Biden complained that his father had taken "half" of his "salary". In addition, 2010 emails between Hunter Biden and his business partner Eric Schwerin apparently showed that Hunter paid some of his father's bills and spent money on house repairs for Joe when the latter was vice president.

Other conservative commentators refer to a May 13, 2017, email to Hunter and his business partners in which one of the participants of the deal outlined an equity breakdown in which 10% of the lucrative CEFC joint venture would be held by Hunter "for the big guy." Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, insisted that "the big guy" was none other than Joe.

"I believe it has been demonstrated that Hunter Biden was peddling his influence with the US government in return for money and other favors but the problem is demonstrating the extent to which Joe Biden was cooperating or even engaged in the scheme," Philip Giraldi, former CIA station chief, now an executive director of the Council for the National Interest, told Sputnik.

However, in order to prove this in court one would have to demonstrate that: first, Joe was directly and knowledgeably involved; and, second, that Joe benefited materially and directly from the money that resulted, the CIA veteran continued.

"I am not sure that it will be possible to demonstrate the former beyond a reasonable doubt (it has been denied, for example, that Joe was actually in the room when Hunter was threatening his Chinese contact to extort money)," Giraldi said.

And unless Joe was depositing his money in a traceable fashion in a bank account, it would also be difficult to prove that he benefited materially and directly from that, the former intelligence officer said.

"To make it traditional corruption, it would have to be demonstrated that Joe either delivered or threatened to deliver on Hunter's threats," Giraldi pointed out. "If Joe never, for example, picked up a phone and confirmed what Hunter was offering it would be hard to demonstrate that he had actually done anything corrupt! I can believe that Hunter did all the things claimed, but I rather see Joe as someone who lines his pocket when the opportunity presents itself and when there is no chance of being caught. Such taking advantage of situations is common among our generally corrupt political class. I wonder how Joe has accumulated a personal worth of $7 million since he was a government employee for most of his adult life and his wife is a schoolteacher!"

Will Joe Biden Face Impeachment?

Earlier, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped a hint that Republican lawmakers may consider an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden over apparent financial misconduct and the Biden family's questionable business dealings. The speaker detailed the impeachment inquiry would allow Congress "to get the information to be able to know the truth."

"President Biden can no longer obfuscate and conceal his connection to Hunter's dealings at his father's side and consequently an impeachment inquiry is merited and should proceed swiftly because it appears the president and his family members may pose a national security risk," argued Little. "As such, Congress must do its duty and uphold its oath to protect America from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and the media must get out of the way."

Little has drawn attention to the fact that President Trump was impeached "for a phone call with Ukraine wherein nothing untoward occurred but his opponents stretched the facts in order to destroy him."

However, when it comes to the Bidens, the public sees "clear evidence of influence peddling and payments to various members of the Biden family from multiple foreign entities with no clear business purpose," Little emphasized.

For his part, Giraldi doubts that the elder Biden will face impeachment, given how zealously he has been protected by the mainstream press and US intelligence figures.

"As revelations emerge, there will be plenty of alternative explanations coming out of Joe's protectors both in government and in the media. The waters will be muddied sufficiently to make it difficult to make a compelling case in the mind of voters. Given that, I do not expect that Joe Biden will face impeachment," the CIA veteran concluded.