The House Ways and Means Committee released documents that show a specific body of proof: that Hunter Biden and his business associates had access to the White House and President Biden’s advisors. In addition to documents highlighting Hunter’s trips across the world on his father’s official business trips are instructions to avoid mentioning Joe Biden himself in their dealings.
Chairman Smith Opening Statement – Hearing on the Basis for an Impeachment Inquiry of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) delivered the following statement at an Oversight Committee hearing on the basis for the impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
As prepared for delivery.
“Thank you Chairman Comer.
“Yesterday, the Ways and Means Committee released new documents showing President Biden was not just aware of his son’s business dealings; he was connected to them.
“In a newly released message to a Chinese business executive, Hunter Biden mentions preserving the ‘keys to my family’s only asset.’
“That asset? Joe Biden.
“New evidence released in response to questions raised by Members of this Committee on both sides when Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, the two IRS whistleblowers, testified in July, paints a disturbing picture of a revolving door between Joe Biden’s office and Hunter Biden’s business partners.
“According to a worksheet provided by IRS whistleblower Ziegler, then-Vice President Biden’s April 2014 official visit to Ukraine occurred only days after a series of White House meetings with Hunter Biden and his business associates regarding Ukraine. Shortly after Joe Biden returned stateside, the Ukrainian company Burisma announced Hunter Biden’s appointment to its board.
“New evidence provided shows Hunter Biden using his father’s position to gain favor with billionaire Miguel Aleman – including having Joe Biden host them at the White House in February 2014, at the Vice President’s Residence alongside Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim in November 2015, and then in 2016, using Air Force 2 to shuttle Hunter Biden and his business associate to Mexico City.
“Whether it was lunches, phone calls, White House meetings, or official foreign trips, Hunter Biden cashed in by arranging access to Joe Biden.
“The Biden family and their associates received millions in payments from foreign sources, including from Russia, China, Ukraine, and Romania. In one email, Hunter Biden even bragged that he cut a deal for $10 million from just one company for ‘introductions alone.’
“And yet, the DOJ wanted to keep the spotlight as far from Joe Biden as possible. One of the items we released yesterday was an IRS interview with James Biden, the President’s brother, in September 2022. The agency was barred in the interview from asking him about Joe Biden and about whether Joe Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s deal with a Chinese Energy company.
“And when Hunter Biden had his tax liability of over $2 million mysteriously paid for by a Democrat Party donor named Kevin Morris who he barely knew — something IRS investigators saw as a possible campaign finance violation — Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf said she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation. Behind me are the notes Agent Shapley took from that meeting. He notes that Wolf told investigators that she was not ‘personally’ interested in pursuing it.
“This is the same Attorney Wolf who, in an email we released yesterday, responded to IRS investigators seeking approval for a search warrant with, ‘there should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here’ – that being a reference to Joe Biden.
“The Biden family sold access to Joe Biden’s power; and the Biden Justice Department protected the Biden brand.
“We must continue to follow the facts.”
The documents
WASHINGTON, D.C. – New documents released by the Ways and Means Committee today reveal Joe Biden’s connections to his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Newly revealed materials confirm that Hunter Biden was traveling the world to sell influence and access to the Biden “brand,” meaning his father, Joe Biden. Hunter has even referred to access to his father as “the keys” to “my family’s only asset.”
The scheme generated millions of dollars from foreign countries for members of the Biden family, channeled through a vast array of corporate entities and shell companies. The evidence also documents a campaign by the Justice Department to protect the Biden family from investigation, even as Hunter Biden attempted to evade paying taxes on income that came from foreign countries, including China, Ukraine, and others. That Biden protection effort was strongest whenever investigative steps might have led to or implicated actions taken by Joe Biden. During the investigation into his son, officials instructed investigators seeking a search warrant to erase any mention of a “Political Figure 1,” who documents reveal to be Joe Biden.
Documents show Hunter Biden and his business associates had access to the White House and Joe Biden’s advisors; Biden business associates were instructed to not “mention Joe being involved;” and official trips to Ukraine line up U.S. government actions and Hunter Biden’s financial bottom line. And, after the IRS began investigating these crimes, Hunter apparently “expected all of this ‘stuff’ to go away when his dad becomes President.”
A May 2021 report from investigators noted that “there may be campaign finance criminal violations” based on interviews and a review of the evidence. These violations pertain to a wealthy Hollywood lawyer, Kevin Morris, who was enlisted to help the family, and who paid millions of dollars to help Hunter Biden around the time that Joe Biden becomes president. Yet a DOJ official told the investigators that she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation, noting that she was not “personally interested.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement:
“Today, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to release new documents provided by the two IRS whistleblowers that corroborate their initial testimony to the Committee and reinforce their credibility and their high esteem among colleagues.
“These documents show a clearer connection between Joe Biden, his public office, and Hunter Biden’s global influence peddling scheme that resulted in over $20 million in payments to the Biden family. In addition to then Vice-President Joe Biden attending lunches and speaking on the phone with his son’s business associates, the details released today paint a fuller picture of how Joe Biden’s vice- presidential office was instrumental to the Biden family’s business schemes.
“The evidence shows a pattern of Hunter Biden creating for-profit entities to shield at least $20 million from foreign sources from taxes and hide the trail of payments that led to members of the Biden family. The growing body of evidence further calls into question the Justice Department’s attempted sweetheart plea deal for Hunter Biden, and the reasons for appointing the architect of that plea deal as the special counsel for Hunter Biden’s case, in light of officials’ efforts to protect President Biden and his son.
“This evidence makes clear Hunter Biden’s business was selling the Biden ‘brand’ and that access to the White House was his family’s most valuable asset – despite official claims otherwise.
“The Committee continues to take the appropriate steps in this investigation and documents were shared with Committee Democrats before today’s executive session. We have promised to go where the facts lead us and that is exactly what we will do to get answers for the American people.”
WATCH: Ways and Means Republicans Post-Executive Session Press Conference
What the Committee Learned:
Joe Biden is connected to Hunter Biden’s foreign influence peddling that attempted to sway U.S. policy while the Biden family made millions.
- Hunter Biden sold his family’s “brand” and “only asset,” Joe Biden’s political power and influence, even bragging in a 2017 email to a Chinese business executive that he negotiated a contract for $10 million per year for “introductions alone.”
- IRS investigators detailed in a worksheet that then-Vice President Biden’s April 2014 official visit to Ukraine occurred only days after a series of White House meetings with Hunter Biden and his business associates, and a Burisma executive sent an email saying a “reasonable balance” could be reached about Hunter Biden. One month later, Burisma announced Hunter Biden’s appointment to its board.
- Hunter Biden’s role as a “door opener” to senior government officials extended beyond his father. The newly released documents show that in 2015, the assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken scheduled a lunch with Hunter Biden after Hunter’s business partner provided Blinken’s personal email address.
- After Joe Biden hosted Hunter Biden and two business contacts — billionaire Miguel Aleman and his father — at the White House in February 2014, Hunter Biden contacted the White House photographer to obtain a photograph from the visit. Newly released documents show that just three months later, Hunter Biden emailed Devon Archer, saying, “We need to get to Mexico City and cement deal w/ Miguel. To that end you need to reach out to him and get him an ongoing report on RR investment.” In November 2015, Joe Biden hosted at the Vice President’s Residence Hunter and his business associate, Miguel Jr., Miguel Sr., and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Later, in 2016, Joe Biden used Air Force 2 to shuttle Hunter Biden and his business associate to Mexico City.
The Biden Family made millions off their foreign influence peddling scheme channeled through subsidiaries and LLCs to avoid paying taxes and limit visibility into how the money from foreign sources moves to many entities, including Biden family members.
- Payments totaling over $20 million from foreign sources have been identified so far. Income came from various foreign countries, including China, Ukraine, and Romania, among others. Whistleblower documents specifically mention 23 foreign countries on four continents in connection to Hunter Biden’s schemes.
- Hunter Biden and his business associates set up over 20 entities/subsidiaries to hide these payments from scrutiny. In a 2014 email exchange with his business partner Devon Archer, Hunter Biden considered buying an Irish or Lithuanian bank to circumvent banking license rules with the aim of eventually buying a U.S. bank.
- Both President Biden’s brother and Hunter Biden’s tax accountant stated in interviews with federal investigators that parts of Hunter Biden’s 2018 tax returns were dishonest, adding more evidence that his status as son of the President of the United States played a role in his sweetheart plea deal.
The Biden Administration – including top officials at the Justice Department – lied to the American public and engaged in a cover-up that interfered with federal investigators and protected the Biden family, including President Biden himself.
- DOJ delayed the investigation of Hunter Biden and allowed the statute of limitations to expire for 2014 and 2015 involving income from Ukraine while Joe Biden was Vice President, denied any steps that might have led to Joe Biden, and divulged key information to Hunter Biden’s attorneys.
- In an August 2020 email, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf ordered investigators to remove any reference to “Political Figure 1” from a search warrant. Subsequent documents released today show that President Biden is “Political Figure 1.”
- Investigators sounded the alarm in a 2020 case report that the investigation was being “hampered and artificially slowed.” One example was a September 2022 interview with the President’s brother, James Biden, where investigators were not allowed to ask if then-Vice President Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s deal with CEFC China Energy or follow “normal investigative leads.”
- A May 2021 report from investigators details that they were not allowed to follow investigative leads on potential campaign finance violations related to a wealthy Hollywood lawyer, Kevin Morris, who was enlisted to help the family, and who paid millions of dollars to help Hunter around the time that Joe Biden becomes president. Investigators wrote that “there may be campaign finance criminal violations. AUSA Wolf stated on the last prosecution team meeting that she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation.”
- An FBI agent worried about executing a search warrant related to the Bidens because he had just moved back to Delaware and was concerned it would impact him and his family personally.
- Hunter Biden was evidently not worried about potential legal consequences for his tax fraud, as the IRS investigative team was made aware that a third party had an email from Hunter Biden claiming “all of this ‘stuff’ would “go away when his dad became President.”
- This past week, Attorney General Merrick Garland repeated his claim before the Judiciary Committee that then-U.S. Attorney David Weiss had the “authority” to charge Hunter Biden in any jurisdiction, which whistleblower testimony and eyewitness accounts refute.
Click here to access documents released by the Ways and Means Committee.