President Joe Biden’s younger brother James arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee.
The GOP-controlled panel subpoenaed James Biden to question him about his role in the Biden family business dealings abroad and whether or not President Biden used his political position to influence those dealings.
The younger Biden has already told investigators that he never asked his brother for any “official” political or business favors and that he never relied on his brother’s position to advance his own interests.
“Those who have said or thought otherwise were either mistaken, ill-informed, or flat-out lying,” James Biden said in a prepared statement.
Jim Biden: "In every business venture in which I have been involved, I have relied on my own talent, judgment, skill, and personal relationships and never my status as Joe Biden's brother." 🤣 https://t.co/SIaHz2HJLw
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) February 21, 2024
A former associate of both James and Hunter Biden, Tony Bobulinski, previously testified that the president’s name was central to their business dealings in China.
“And I was asking [James Biden], ‘How are you doing it? It doesn’t make any sense. Aren’t you guys concerned that if Joe does run for President of the United States in the future that you guys are doing business directly with the Chinese?’” Bobulinski said while testifying.
“He looks at me and sort of chuckles and says, ‘Plausible deniability,’” Bobulinski added.
James Biden was also expected to be questioned on “loan repayment” checks that he wrote to the President. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said his panel uncovered evidence that James and Sara Biden sent President Biden $200,000 in the form of a personal check that was labeled “loan repayment.”
"Loan repayment" for Joe Biden uncovered. pic.twitter.com/CVragFKndd
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) October 20, 2023
The White House did not deny that the checks were written and instead stated that the committee “found that as a private citizen, the president loaned his brother his own money when his brother needed it, and after reviewing bank records, there is a record that he was repaid.”
Comer had a different version of the story saying that James Biden received $600,000 in loans from Americore, a rural hospital operator, in 2018. One of those loan checks, according to Comer’s testimony, was for $200,000.
“On March 1, 2018, Americore wired a $200,000 loan into James and Sara Biden’s personal bank account — not their business bank account,” Comer said. “And then, on the very same day, James Biden wrote a $200,000 check from this same personal bank account to Joe Biden.”
President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is expected to speak with investigators about the matter next week.
