GOP seeks White House documents on Biden family business ventures
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz discuss double standard regarding Hunter Biden's business deals
Government Accountability Institute fellow Jason Chaffetz, a former Utah Republican congressman, claimed Wednesday on "Hannity" that there is direct evidence being laid out by one of his GAI colleagues that shows President Joe Biden was privy to his 51-year-old son R. Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.
Chaffetz alluded to news that investigative author and GAI President Peter Schweizer had found materials on a hard drive Hunter Biden left at a Wilmington, Del., laptop repair shop that prove Joe Biden was a "direct beneficiary of Hunter’s nefarious foreign dealings," in the words of host Sean Hannity.
"I do work with Peter, and what he’s done is his cross-referenced some of the data from Hunter Biden’s laptop with the Secret Service records released by [Wisconsin Sen. Ron] Johnson and another business associate of Hunter Biden. So they are very careful about what they’re looking at here," Chaffetz said.
"But there is direct evidence that Joe Biden himself — Joe and Jill Biden -- took direct benefit by using assets and things that were purchased based on the transaction that Hunter Biden was involved in and engaged with these foreign entities," he added.
"[Hunter] has taken money from the former mayor of Moscow’s wife to the tune of millions of dollars. He has flown on Air Force Two with one of his business associates," Chaffetz continued.
"How does a business associate of Hunter Biden's fly on Air Force Two to go to Mexico City to set up a deal? You haven’t heard the last of that -- He’s also flown on Air Force Two to China and then he has these Ukraine monies flowing in by the tens of billions of dollars. This is one of the biggest political scandals that we have ever seen and it’s being covered up by the media, it is not being investigated and the FBI certainly is doing its part to make sure that this information doesn’t get out the door," the Utahn added.
Hannity added that Chaffetz' and Schweizer's purported findings give credence to claims former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski made on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in 2020, weeks after the New York Post's bombshell report on the existence of the laptop was censored on social media.
Bobulinski, a Navy veteran and the former head of SinoHawk Holdings -- which he describes as a partnership between the CEFC China Energy conglomerate and two Biden family members -- told Carlson that he almost walked out of October's second presidential debate when candidate Biden discussed the topic.
On Wednesday, Fox News learned exclusively that the Republican side of the House Oversight Committee – which is led by Ranking Member Rep. James Comer of Kentucky – launched an effort to probe the business ventures of President Biden's family members, especially Hunter Biden's newfound art career, and document how the Bidens have sought to "profit off the presidency."
Citing news reports, committee Republicans accuse Hunter, the president's brother Frank Biden and his sister Valerie Biden-Owens of using the president’s position to their advantage – and are demanding answers from the White House on such business dealings.
Of high concern for the Republicans is Hunter Biden's new career path as an artist and his plans to sell his paintings at upcoming exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York, where his art could be listed as high as $500,000. In order to avoid an appearance of outsiders trying to peddle influence with the Biden family, the White House crafted an agreement to keep the names of the buyers confidential from the 51-year-old Biden and the White House.
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Last week, Walter Shaub – who served as President Barack Obama's ethics czar – sounded the alarm on Hunter Biden's newfound passion, calling the White House arrangement allowing him to sell his art "the perfect mechanism for funneling bribes" to his father.
Also last week, activist Rod Webber was arrested for vandalizing the Georges Berges Gallery in New York City's SoHo, which is marketing Hunter's art.
Fox News' Tyler Olson and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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