Biden’s brother talks to House GOP

Says president was never involved in business dealings

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden “never had any involvement” in the business dealings of other members of his family, his brother James Biden testified Wednesday as he appeared for a voluntary private interview on Capitol Hill as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry.

“I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures. Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities,” the president’s younger brother said in a 10-page opening statement to lawmakers obtained by The Associated Press. “None.”

Republican lawmakers in the ongoing five-plus hour interview came out and told reporters, without citing details, that James Biden’s responses so far had contradicted his opening statement and that he made efforts to avoid directly answering investigators’ questions.

“He has said a lot of things that have contradicted himself in that testimony,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-ariz., said during an afternoon break from questioning. “So when you see the transcript, you’ll see.”

The interview with James Biden is the latest in a series that GOP lawmakers have conducted recently as they seek to rebuild momentum for an impeachment process surrounding the Biden family’s overseas finances that has stalled in recent months.

Criticism over the lack of evidence against the president has grown even among Republicans. Many GOP lawmakers say they have yet to see evidence of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” required for impeachment, despite alleged efforts by members of the Biden family to leverage the last name into corporate paydays domestically and abroad.

Beyond the internal struggle, a central claim of the GOP investigation has also been undermined by federal prosecutors, who last week indicted an FBI informant who claimed in June 2020 there was a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the president, his son Hunter and Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, in 2015 or 2016.

But Alexander Smirnov had only routine business dealings with the company starting in

2017 and made the bribery allegations after he “expressed bias” against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors.

According to prosecutors, Smirnov admitted in an interview after his arrest last week that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” about Hunter Biden. They said Smirnov’s contacts with Russian officials were recent and extensive, and that he had planned to meet with one official during an upcoming overseas trip.

He is charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record.

The informant’s claims had been part of the foundation of the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, with investigators even making mention of the unsubstantiated claim in letters to prospective witnesses.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-ohio, one of the lead impeachment investigators, told reporters Wednesday that the indictment of Smirnov doesn’t “change the underlying facts” of their investigation. He added that the FBI saw this informant as a valued source for years.

An attorney for Hunter Biden, who is expected to give a deposition next week, said the charges show the probe is “based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses.”

Both James and Hunter Biden were subpoenaed by the committee in November. Lawyers for James Biden have said that there was no justification for the subpoena because the committee had already reviewed private bank records and transactions between the two brothers. The committee found records of two loans that were made when Joe Biden was not in office or a candidate for president.

The impeachment inquiry, which began in September under the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, has included the recent depositions of several former Biden family associates. In nearly every one of those interviews, the witnesses have stated that they have seen no evidence that Joe Biden was directly involved in his son or brother’s business ventures.

Nonetheless, Republicans, led by Oversight Chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, have said they are pushing ahead with an inquiry that could result in impeachment charges against Biden, the ultimate penalty for what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors.”