President Biden’s brother, James Biden, arrived at the Capitol to face questioning from Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into whether Joe profited from his family’s shady dealings.
Wednesday morning’s highly anticipated closed-door interview is part of Republicans’ investigation into whether President Joe Biden profited from the business dealings of his son Hunter and brother Jim.
A reporter yelled at him: “Did Hunter smoke crack in the White House?” when he entered the O’Neil House office building.
James, who looks strikingly like his brother Joe, ignored the questions shouted at him before going through security. He is expected to sit for hours as lawmakers on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees question him.
James is expected to be asked specifically about a $200,000 payment he made to Joe shortly after a lucrative business deal with Chinese energy company CEFC.
Immediately before the testimony, top Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said James’ testimony will be a crucial piece of the puzzle in unraveling how the Biden family acquired more than $20 million in foreign money over the years. .
Last week, however, the Republican Party was dealt a blow in its impeachment case after special counsel David Weiss indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov – the source behind the alleged $10 million “bribery scheme” dollars between a Ukrainian oil giant and Joe and Hunter – of lying. about Biden’s businesses.
But that doesn’t deter Republicans, who dismissed the whistleblower as just part of a complex money trail involving the Bidens and foreigners they are working to unravel.
Jordan told reporters that Smirnov’s accusation “does not change the fundamental facts” of Hunter’s work on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company.
James Biden, brother of President Joe Biden, arrives Wednesday morning to testify before Congress in his brother’s impeachment inquiry.
House Republicans believe James’ testimony will shed light on how the Biden family amassed millions of dollars over the years when Joe was a top Washington politician.
Bobulinski, a Navy veteran, worked with Hunter Biden and his uncle Jim, Joe’s brother, in 2017 to create the SinoHawk Holdings joint venture with CEFC.
The Biden family joins Joe on stage in 2008, including his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, left, his son Hunter, his wife Jill and his brother Jim.
“We will focus on James Biden, he was involved in the candidate issue, the chapter that I call the money, the business, the brand,” Jordan also said on Fox News earlier Wednesday.
“20 different companies, over $20 million going to members of the Biden family, all selling access to the brand,” he continued.
Democrats insisted that Smirnov’s accusation blew up the entire foundation of the investigation.
“The entire impeachment inquiry has been built on a foundation of a lie and conspiracy theories, propaganda and disinformation promoted by Russian intelligence agents,” top Democratic watchdog Jamie Raskin told reporters as he addressed the deposition. . “We found out yesterday, so I don’t know why we have to keep up the charade any longer.”
Republicans have attracted a steady stream of Biden family members and associates in recent weeks as their investigation gains momentum.
Biden family associates Mervyn Yan, Rob Walker and Eric Schwerin testified behind closed doors earlier this year. Additionally, investigators last week questioned former business partners Joey Langston and Tony Bobulinski.
Bobulinski gave the clearest indication yet that Joe was well aware of his family’s dealings, telling lawmakers that “the Biden family business was Joe Biden, period,” DailyMail.com has learned.
Joe was involved in Bobulinski’s lucrative CEFC deal, who called the president an “enabler” who was “being protected by a complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability.”
His testimony flies in the face of the White House’s insistence that Joe was never involved in his family’s businesses at any time.
And next week, the GOP’s star witness, Hunter Biden, will sit before Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees.
Republican lawmakers allege that Joe received a direct payment from his brother, who used his last name to “open doors” and opportunities to enrich the family.
Despite not being a public health consultant or medical expert, James Biden was hired by Americore as the healthcare startup was trying to build hospitals in rural America as his brother left the vice presidency in 2017.
But unfortunately for Americore, James Biden and his connections backfired.
The company imploded in 2019 and filed for bankruptcy amid a series of lawsuits and a federal investigation into fraud allegations. Americore also accused Jim Biden of failing to pay $600,000 in loans.
This week, sources told Politico that Jim used his relationship with his older brother to pursue deals and make proposals that would reward the company with funds for drug rehabilitation, cancer treatments and lab tests.
And at least three of the president’s relatives were also Americore employees, including Jim’s wife, Sara, and son Jamie.
Americore trustee Carol Fox attended an interview with the Oversight Committee in December, during which she revealed that he used her last name to “open doors” and bolster his business opportunities.
Fox has sued James Biden, alleging that he made “statements that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain major investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.”
Fox alleged that James Biden helped secure “a reckless bridge loan from a hedge fund that had a detrimental impact on the debtor’s financial affairs and ultimately forced the debtors into bankruptcy, as [James Biden] never delivered on the huge investment promised from the Middle East.’
Jim Biden ultimately returned Americore $350,000 to settle the lawsuit, although his lawyers said he played no role in the company’s demise and had received the money for consulting work, not loans, as Fox had alleged as a trustee.
According to a source familiar with the interview, Fox did not identify any services provided by James Biden to Americore, and that Americore provided a “loan” to James Biden without documentation in exchange for a promise of Middle East funding that never came.
Another source with direct knowledge of the interview insisted that Fox said he had no evidence that Joe Biden was involved in his brother’s business and said he believed the deal was fair and equitable.
Joe Biden, seen with his son Hunter in June, has always insisted that he was not involved in Hunter’s business dealings.
President Joe Biden sits in a golf cart while playing golf with his brother Jim.
Republicans on Tuesday grilled Hunter Biden’s business partner who has since turned against him, Tony Bobulinski.
According to bankruptcy court documents, James Biden took money from his Americore healthcare business and sent it directly to his brother Joe Biden.
Documents show that in 2018, James Biden took out $600,000 in loans from Americore. James was able to receive the loans based on “representations” that his last name, “Biden,” could “open doors.”
On March 1, 2018, Americore transferred a $200,000 loan to James and Sara Biden’s personal bank account.
That same day, James Biden issued a $200,000 check to ‘Joseph R. Biden’ from his personal account for ‘loan repayment.’ At that time, Joe had already left the vice presidential position.
Democrats point to bank records showing that weeks earlier Joe had loaned James the exact same amount in a wire transfer.
But Republicans say nothing in that cable said “loan” or “Joe Biden” and there is no definitive answer about which exact account the money came from.
Republicans leading the investigation into the Biden family’s ‘influence peddling scheme’, which is at the center of their impeachment inquiry into the president, say this personal check directly shows that Joe was aware of Biden’s dealings. his family and was included in them.
James’ attorney, Paul J. Fishman, previously stated that “at no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.”