George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Wednesday the Democrats’ defense of President Joe Biden and his son Hunter was “nonsensical.”
Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill for a closed-door deposition Wednesday as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden. The younger Biden testified he “did not involve” his father in his overseas business dealings.
“Well, you’ll notice he does not say, ‘my father did not know about my business activities as he was flying on Air Force 2,’ for example. He has previously contradicted his father, who maintained throughout the campaign that he had no knowledge of his son’s business dealings. Most of us believe that is now patently false, but you’ll notice that nuanced language in all of this. I think that the Democrats did a disservice to themselves by coming out too quickly. They came out about an hour after the deposition had started, after Hunter Biden read that statement, so he had barely cleared his throat, when they came out and said ‘ok, well there’s nothing here.'”
Turley criticized Democrats for brushing off the “obvious,” which he said was that the Biden’s engaged in an “influence peddling operation.” Turley said that Joe Biden has been referenced in emails, text messages and testimonies, which indicate Biden met with some of his son’s business associates. (RELATED: ‘We All Pretty Much Know…Biden Lied’: Turley Says Hunter Will ‘Probably’ Have To ‘Contradict His Father’)
“And I think that Democrats would be in a better position if then acknowledged the obvious, which is, this is an influence peddling operation,” Turley continued. “I mean, Hunter Biden himself says that he was in the throes of addiction. Well, then why were people giving you millions of dollars in areas that you know nothing about? And the obvious answer is that he was influence peddling. The Bidens have been alleged to be influence peddlers for a long time.”
Turley said the Democrats’ defense that Joe Biden did not receive any direct payments from his son’s business associates was “not a defense.”
“Now, you can contest whether there’s impeachable evidence here, but I want to emphasize something else,” Turley said. “The fact that Joe Biden did not get direct payments is not a defense to the classic type of case of bribery or some of these corruption crimes. The courts have repeatedly said that money going to family members is viewed as a benefit to the principal of actual criminal cases. So that whole defense is a bit nonsensical if you’re talking about corruption.”
Turley pointed to a July 30, 2017 WhatsApp message the younger Biden sent to a Chinese business associate, informing the associate that he was “sitting here with my father.” Then-candidate Biden assured the public in an Oct. 2020 debate with Former President Donald Trump that Hunter had never made any money from China. Biden also allegedly attended a meeting with CEFC officials in May 2017, a Biden family associate said, according to the House Oversight Committee.
“This is one of the reasons why I think Democrats doth protest too much when they say let’s stop all this questioning. There’s nothing here to see,” Turley added. “There’s obviously corruption here! That’s what influence peddling is. It’s a form of corruption. And then the question for the public is did President Biden know about that corruption? Did he know his brother and his son were influence peddling? I think the evidence is considerable that he did know, including from articles that were appearing during that time.”
House Oversight Committee released records of a $200,000 check wired to Joe Biden by his brother James on March 1, 2018, that had been classified as a “loan repayment.” James wired the check from his and his wife Sara Biden’s personal account after having received it from distressed rural hospital operator, Americore, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer explained.
In another instance, Joe Biden received a $40,000 payment, also classified as a “loan repayment,” from Sara, bank records released by Comer show. The payment appeared to originate from a Chinese company associated with CEFC, Comer explained.
“First, Northern International Capital, a Chinese company associated with CEFC, wired $5,000,000 to Hudson West III, a joint venture established by Hunter Biden and a CEFC associate,” Comer said in a Nov. 2023 video.
“Then, Hudson West III sent $400,000 to an entity owned and controlled by Hunter Biden. Next, Hunter Biden wired $150,000 to Lion Hall Group, a company owned by Joe Biden’s brother James and sister-in-law Sara Biden. Sara Biden then withdrew $50,000 in cash from Lion Hall Group,” Comer continued.
“Later the same day, she deposited it into her and James Biden’s personal checking account. A few days later, Sara Biden cut a check to Joe Biden for $40,000. The memo line of the check said, ‘loan repayment.’”
The now-president also sent emails to his son’s business associate Eric Schwerin using the pseudonym “Robin Ware,” according to an email search released in December by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Hunter’s former business associate Devon Archer testified in late July that Biden and his son had dinner with a Russian oligarch in Spring 2014. Archer also testified that Hunter and Joe had dinner with Burisma energy executive Vadim Pozharskyi in the spring of 2015 to talk about the World Food Programme.
Archer further testified that the Biden family “brand” protected Ukrainian energy company Busisma from scrutiny and that Joe had spoken to Hunter’s business associates over 20 times. Archer told Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson it was “categorically false” to claim Joe Biden did not know about his son’s business dealings.
“Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma. Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman. Not my investments at home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist,” Hunter Biden said after defying a congressional subpoena in January.