It was recently reported that the White House is facing increased scrutiny for the actions of first son Hunter Biden and his business dealings when his dad, President Joe Biden, was the vice president for former President Obama.
On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain appeared on the ABC News show “This Week” where he was hammered by host George Stephanopoulos about the scandal.
“We also know the Justice Department is intensifying its investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son. I assume the president has had no contact with the Justice Department about that?
“Neither the president or any of us at the White House have had any contact with the Justice Department about that,” Klain said.
“Is the president confident Hunter Biden didn’t break the law?” the host responded.
“Of course the president’s confident that his son didn’t break the law. But, most importantly, as I said, that’s a matter that’s going to be decided by the Justice Department, by the legal process. It’s something that no one at the White House has involvement in,” the chief of staff said.
“’The Washington Post’ also reported this week on deals that Hunter Biden had with a Chinese energy company, paid $4.8 million to entities controlled by Hunter and the president’s brother. Is the president confident his family didn’t cross any ethical lines?” the host said.
“George, the president is confident that his family did the right thing. But, again, I want to just be really clear, these are actions by Hunter and his brother. They’re private matters. They don’t involve the president. And they certainly are something that no one at the White House is involved in,” the chief of staff said.
On Thursday, CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge said that the investigation, that started as a probe into Hunter’s taxes, has become “broader than previously known.”
More witnesses have come forward to speak to the grand jury in Wilmington, Delaware and they have been asked about payments that Hunter received when he was on the board of the energy company Burisma in Ukraine, ABC News reported.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Delaware, which has been leading the investigation, is expected to hear from more witnesses in the coming weeks, sources told ABC News.
Sources say that prosecutors have not made a decision yet on whether criminal charges against Biden are warranted, and that there is debate about whether Biden’s admitted past drug abuse could serve to undermine a criminal case over his financial decision-making.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office declined to comment to ABC News, as did a spokesperson for the Justice Department.
Chris Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, did not respond to a request for comment. The developments in the probe were first reported by The New York Times.
Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation in December 2020, shortly after his father won the presidency. Since taking office, President Biden has repeatedly pledged to uphold the independence of the Justice Department and not interfere in its work. The tax probe is being led by U.S. Attorney Dan Weiss, a Trump appointee who remained on the job after Biden was sworn in.
“In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part,” Hunter Biden said to ABC News in October 2019 in reference to his business dealings and how they could affect his dad’s political career. “Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don’t believe now, when I look back on it — I know that there was — did nothing wrong at all. However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is … a swamp in — in — in many ways? Yeah.”
This week CNN reported about the laptop and how much of an issue it is.
“You’re reporting here because this is very, very bad for the president’s son,” CNN host Brianna Keilar said.
“It’s an investigation, as you pointed out, going back to 2018,” CNN’s Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez said. “And right now, prosecutors in Delaware are focusing on a number of things, including whether Hunter Biden and, and some of his business associates violated laws, including tax money, laundering, laws, and foreign lobbying laws.”
“A lot of this has to do with Hunter Biden’s time working with this company called Burisma, an energy company in Ukraine,” Perez continued. “He was getting paid as much as $50,000 a month for that company during a time that Joe Biden, his father was vice president, was in charge of handling Ukraine issues for the Obama administration. And that of course raised questions of, of a conflict.”
