Former President Donald Trump sparred with NBC host Kristen Welker when she falsely claimed there is “no evidence” connecting Joe Biden to Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
Trump sat down with Welker for a pre-taped interview and NBC’s “Meet the Press” aired parts of the interview Sunday for Welker’s introduction as the show’s new host. The pair went back and forth on Hunter Biden after Welker said there was “no evidence” Joe Biden has “any link” to his son’s business dealings, according to a transcript of the full interview. (RELATED: Trump Was Right Again And Again About The Biden Family’s Foreign Business Dealings)
#MTP moderator Kristen Welker sat down with former President Donald Trump to discuss his legal troubles, a potential running mate, the war in Ukraine and more.
Read the full transcript of the interview. https://t.co/jFXfoUPMJT
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 17, 2023
“Well, of course, there’s no evidence that the president has any link to his son’s business dealings. Let me ask you, though,” Welker said.
“Well, I don’t,” Trump interrupted, with a puzzled expression on his face.
“He called in. I mean, he called in to all these meetings. He was calling in on the meetings. He was put on speakerphone and — every single day and,” Trump said.
“And what about the fact that he got rid of the prosecutor for a billion dollars?,” he added.
“Mr. President, the witness who testified though, said that he never heard any discussion of business when President Biden was put on the phone,” Welker claimed.
“He said, ‘You don’t get rid of this prosecutor, I’m not giving $1 billion,'” Trump continued.
“That was looked into, as well. And, as you know, there was never any wrongdoing,” Welker responded.
“If I ever said that,” Trump stated.
“Let’s move on,” Welker insisted.
“Quid pro quo,” Trump replied. Welker proceeded to shift the conversation to what Trump’s second term would look like.
Trump was referring to testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer who told the House Oversight Committee in July that Joe Biden spoke with his son’s business partners on more than 20 occasions. Archer specifically recalled a spring 2014 dinner Joe Biden had with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina and a spring 2015 dinner with Vadim Pozharskyi, an executive at Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.
Hunter Biden was being paid more than $80,000 a month to sit on Burisma’s board when his father met Pozharskyi, according to bank records released in August by the House Oversight Committee.
Archer also described how the Biden family “brand” represented by Joe Biden protected Burisma from scrutiny and kept the firm in business. Archer told Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson in an August interview that former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin was considered a “threat” to Burisma’s business and recalled a raid Shokin orchestrated on Burisma founder Mykola Zlochvesky’s property.
In September 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden bragged about how he successfully pressured Ukraine into firing Shokin by threatening to withhold a $1 billion loan. (RELATED: European Officials Praised Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Reforms Right Before Joe Biden Got Prosecutor Fired, Memo Shows)
“You remember last year I was authorized to say we’d do the second tranche of a billion dollars. And he didn’t fire his chief prosecutor. And because I have the confidence of the president, I was there, and I said: I’m not signing it. Until you fire him, we’re not signing, man. Get it straight. We’re not doing it,” Biden said to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Joe Biden said Devon Archer’s testimony was “not true” during an Aug. 9. confrontation with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy. The White House has said Joe Biden was “not in business” with his son.
Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on three federal gun charges. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison as the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to investigate his taxes.
The House Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees are leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday.
The committees are investigating testimony from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler accusing DOJ investigators of giving Hunter Biden special treatment. House Oversight is also investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the alleged role Joe Biden played in them.