The White House did its best to push back against questions about what Joe Biden knew about his son’s affairs on Friday, amid new evidence the two may have been in cahoots.
Once again, officials insisted they were sticking to their line that Biden was not involved in Hunter Biden’s dealings.
But while reporters repeatedly questioned a newly revealed WhatsApp message, in which Hunter said he was with his father as he pursued a Chinese contact to complete a deal, officials declined.
First came National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
“I’m not going to address this issue from this rostrum. I’m just not going to,” he said before concluding his part of the briefing.
‘All right. Thanks guys. Have a good week-end.’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was bombarded with questions about what Joe Biden knew about his son’s business dealings during a stormy briefing on Friday.
The president’s son mingled with black-tie guests at the White House on Thursday night when he attended a state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Next in the line of fire was press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who said the White House lawyer had already handled the matter.
“Nothing has changed and I’ll leave it at that,” she said. “For everything else, I will refer you to the White House attorney.
“
Yet much has changed in the opinion of reporters asking questions in the briefing room.
This week, details emerged from an IRS whistleblower of a WhatsApp message apparently sent by Hunter to his Chinese associate Henry Zhao in 2017.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been kept,” he wrote.
“Tell the manager I’d like to fix this now before it gets out of control, and that means now tonight.”
A photograph obtained by DailyMail.com shows he was at his father’s house on the day in question, July 30, 2017.
The president’s son was staying at the guesthouse of Biden’s home in Delaware when he wrote to Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017, threatening him to follow his “orders.”
DailyMail.com obtained a photo of Hunter Biden outside his father Joe’s home in Delaware the day he sent damning text messages to his Chinese business partner
The whistleblower account released by the Ways and Means Committee includes a message from Hunter Biden seeking to threaten a Chinese business partner by invoking his father
The result was a rare show of unity among reporters in the briefing room, as one after another found slightly different ways of asking the same question: Is the White House standing by its claims that Biden was not involved?
“I would refer you to my colleagues at the White House counsel,” she said. “They have addressed this issue and I refer you to them.”
Ian Sams, senior adviser in the White House Counsel’s Office, said: “As we have said many times before, the President was not in business with his son.”
In fact, the previous line was that the president had not discussed his son’s business dealings with him.
Instead, he addressed questions to a statement released by Hunter’s attorney suggesting the WhatsApp message was not what it appeared to be.
“Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrific addiction, are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,” Chris Clark said.
Partial and politically motivated, selective leaks have plagued this case for years. They are not only irresponsible, they are illegal.
The president’s son attended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state dinner on Thursday evening
“A careful examination of the document made public yesterday by a very biased individual raises serious questions as to whether it is indeed what it claims to be.”
This week it emerged that the president’s son had avoided jail after a lengthy investigation into his tax affairs and a firearms license.
A court filing that the 53-year-old agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax charges and would enter a pre-trial diversion program to avoid a more serious charge of possession of a weapon on fire while he was a drug addict.
On Thursday, he mingled with black-tie guests at a state banquet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Jean-Pierre was asked if it was common for people to be invited to the White House so soon after securing a plea deal.
“It’s his son. He is a member of the family,” she said.
“It is not uncommon for family members to attend events at the White House.
“We could look at past presidents.
I’m sure.
“So it’s not uncommon…as far as anything Hunter-related, I’m just not going to answer that from here.”
