Biden’s son to exit board
NEW YORK — Facing intense scrutiny from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, Hunter Biden announced on Sunday that he will step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm at the end of the month as part of a pledge not to work on behalf of any foreign-owned companies should his father win the presidency.
Biden, the 49-year-old son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, revealed his plan in an internet post written by his attorney, George Mesires, who outlined a defense of the younger Biden’s work in Ukraine and China, which have emerged as one of Trump’s chief lines of attack against Hunter’s father despite no proof of impropriety.
Hunter Biden’s work overseas sits at the center of the House impeachment inquiry into Trump.
The White House released a transcript of a call in which Trump asks Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to examine Biden’s family and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election that put Trump in office. Trump has also encouraged China to examine Hunter Biden’s work in that country, saying that earned $1.5 billion from a “sweetheart” business deal there.
The president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is also under scrutiny for his efforts to examine Hunter Biden’s business background.
Republicans reacted to news of Hunter Biden’s decision to step away from the Chinese-backed BHR Equity Investment Fund Management Company with deep skepticism.
“I think this is just another way to save a flailing campaign that’s going down. He knows he’s in trouble and this is just another way to try and detract attention,” Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said Sunday.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Hunter Biden “should have done this quite a while ago.”
“This is a part of how Donald Trump won in the first place saying that we’re going to get rid of these sweetheart deals, we’re going to make sure that we clean up the axis of power in a place like Washington, D.C., where someone like Hunter Biden get a $50,000 a month retainer for Ukrainian energy company when everybody knows that he doesn’t have that skill set.”