Hunter Biden has joined White House briefings this week after spending the weekend at Camp David with his father following President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
NBC News reported on Tuesday about Hunter’s presence on calls and meetings on the White House campus as the 81-year-old president’s political future hangs in the balance.
Hunter was convicted last month on felony weapons charges and is still under indictment for tax crimes, though he “showed up” at a couple of meetings, a source said.
“What the hell is going on?” was the reaction of some senior officials, another source told the network.
Hunter’s crack addiction and overseas business dealings have been a political headache for his father for years, but Biden has kept his only living son close.
Hunter Biden joined White House briefings this week, NBC reported Tuesday, after spending the weekend at Camp David with his father following President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
Hunter Biden (left) is seen returning to the White House on Monday evening alongside (from left) his son Beau, President Joe Biden, Melissa Cohen and first lady Jill Biden.
The president rushed to Delaware last month to hug Hunter on the tarmac, hours after a jury found him guilty of lying about his sobriety when buying a gun.
The first child, his wife Melissa Cohen and baby Beau then flew home to California.
Hunter reappeared with his father when they disembarked from Marine One Monday night at Fort McNair.
The Biden family posed for a photo shoot with famed fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz at Camp David over the weekend as they pressed the 81-year-old president to stay the course in his struggling re-election campaign.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday to explain why Hunter was standing next to his father and sitting in on at least one White House meeting.
“This is a holiday week, the 4th of July,” Jean-Pierre said.
“He spent time with his family, as you all know and have recounted, at Camp David. Hunter went back with him and accompanied him to that meeting, to the preparation of that speech, and ended up spending time with his father and his family that night. That’s basically what happened,” he continued.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that Hunter Biden attended a speech preparation meeting Monday night with President Joe Biden, explaining that the first son is present because “this is a vacation week.”
Democrats are reeling after President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in Thursday night’s debate against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta. His family gathered at Camp David over the weekend and encouraged the 81-year-old to stay in the 2024 race.
Biden spoke for less than five minutes Monday night about the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision — a victory for his rival, former President Donald Trump — and then walked out of Cross Hall without taking questions.
Asked whether Hunter was present at meetings with senior advisers, Jean-Pierre reiterated that the first son was present for preparation of Monday’s speech.
“I can’t say anything more that emerges from that report,” he said.
NBC reports said Hunter was involved in several meetings and calls.
“But I can say that, you know, he’s close to his family, which is not unusual,” Jean-Pierre said of the president. “They were together at Camp David. They were together again. They’ll see a lot more family members this week.”
The president and first lady will host the traditional Fourth of July gathering on the South Lawn on Thursday.