A closer look at some of the specific allegations levied by House Republicans in their impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
House Republicans on Thursday, in their first impeachment inquiry hearing, are set to reexamine information they say they’ve gathered so far in their investigations into President Joe Biden and his family’s business dealings.
„House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,“ House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said when ordering the inquiry earlier this month. „These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption.“
Among their claims, which have yet to be supported by direct evidence, is that President Biden was involved in or personally profited from his family’s foreign business dealings, or that he improperly influenced policy based on them during his time as vice president.
Here’s a closer look at some of the specific allegations levied against President Biden that are likely to be discussed during Thursday’s hearing, and what Biden himself has said about his son’s business dealings and the impeachment inquiry.Allegation: Biden lied about his family’s business dealings
Speaker McCarthy and other top Republicans have claimed Biden lied to the public about his knowledge of his family’s business deals.
They highlight specific statements from Biden that he „never discussed“ with his son or brother anything involving their businesses, and that his son never made money in China.
Biden’s statement in regard to China is not true. Hunter Biden has testified in open court that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chinese business interests.
Whether he „never discussed“ business with his son is less clear. Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer testified that Joe Biden attended at least two dinners with Hunter Biden’s foreign business associates, and frequently spoke with his son over the phone while his son was in the presence of foreign business associates.
But Archer also testified that business never came up during those interactions. Those discussions were often about the weather and other benign subjects, he said. Archer, notably, testified that he never witnessed Joe Biden engage in any wrongdoing.
Hunter Biden also acknowledged at least one instance in which Joe Biden addressed his appointment to the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma: „Dad said, ‚I hope you know what you are doing,‘ and I said, ‚I do,'“ Hunter Biden told the New Yorker.
Allegation: Biden joined phone calls, meetings about Hunter’s business
„Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions – dinners, resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his son’s and his son’s business partners,“ McCarthy said when launching the impeachment inquiry.
Such statements appear largely based on Archer’s testimony.
Archer testified that as many as 20 times, he saw Hunter put his father on speakerphone when Hunter was with business associates. But he said those conversations often stemmed from Hunter speaking to his father „every day“ and that he never witnessed Hunter talking with his dad about the substance of Hunter’s business.
Archer also testified about two different dinners that Joe Biden attended, but never indicated that Hunter’s business was discussed.
The first was „a birthday dinner“ with Hunter, Joe Biden and some foreign businesspeople: „I don’t remember the conversation. I just remember that [Joe Biden] came to dinner, and we ate and kind of talked about the world, I guess, and the weather, and then everybody left,“ Archer said. The second dinner involved Joe Biden, Hunter, one of Hunter’s Burisma colleagues, a Greek orthodox priest, and someone from the World Food Programme: „I think we were supposed to talk about the World Food Programme. So, there was some talk about that,“ Archer testified.
