The White House repeatedly declined to answer questions about a text message Hunter Biden sent to a Chinese business associate in which he appears to leverage the influence of his father, President Joe Biden.
Six different reporters asked press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during an afternoon briefing on Friday about a WhatsApp message Hunter Biden reportedly sent in 2017 that mentions his father in connection to a six-figure business deal.
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“Does this not undermine the president’s claim during the 2020 campaign and the reaffirmations of that claim by his two press secretaries since then, that he never once discussed his son’s overseas business dealings with him?” James Rosen of Newsmax asked.
That first question went to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who refused to answer.
“No,” Kirby said. “And I’m not going to comment further on this.”
That led to a back and forth between Rosen and Kirby, who then added, “Let me save you some breath. If you’re going to ask about this, I am not address — I am not going to address this issue from this podium.”
Once Jean-Pierre took the podium, she repeatedly referred all questions to the White House counsel, who had until Friday only released a short statement that came before the text message was revealed.
“The president and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” a statement from White House spokesman Ian Sams said. “We will have no further comment.”
On Friday, the counsel’s office, however, insisted the president was not involved in any of Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
“As we have said many times before, the President was not in business with his son. As we have also said many times before, the Justice Department makes decisions in its criminal investigations independently, and in this case, the White House has not been involved,” it told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “As the President has said, he loves his son and is proud of him accepting responsibility for his actions and is proud of what he is doing to rebuild his life.”
At issue is a July 30, 2017, WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao, the group chairman of China’s Harvest Fund Management, in which Hunter Biden used his father’s name to demand a payment and apparently threaten the Chinese businessman.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” Hunter Biden wrote.
“And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction,” he continued. “I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
The message appears to imply that Joe Biden knew about and was potentially involved in his son’s foreign business dealings.
Photographs from Hunter Biden’s laptop, previously reviewed by the Washington Examiner, suggest the younger Biden was at his father’s Wilmington, Delaware, residence on the day of the text message, although it’s unclear if his father was there at the time. Konstantinos “Gus” Dimitrelos, a former Secret Service agent and a cyberforensics expert, previously confirmed the photos were taken on July 30, 2017.
Hunter Biden’s personal attorney, Chris Clark, released a statement addressing the controversy.
“Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrible addiction, are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,” he said.
Questions about the WhatsApp message continued and intensified once Jean-Pierre took the podium on Friday.
“It’s a reasonable question to ask,” a New York Times reporter said. “The president of the United States is involved, as this message seems to suggest, in some sort of a coercive conversation for business dealings by his son. Is that something that, if he wasn’t, then maybe you should tell us?”
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Jean-Pierre responded that “my colleague at the White House counsel has answered this question already” and that “I just don’t have anything to share outside of what my colleagues have shared.” She repeated a version of that response to answer all further questions.
Several other reporters continued to press Jean-Pierre for more information, including some who yelled their inquiries without being called on.
“Was the president involved?” said New York Post reporter Steven Nelson, formerly of the Washington Examiner. “Yes or no. Was the president involved?”
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But Jean-Pierre refused to elaborate.
“I just answered the question,” she said. “It’s not up to you how I answer the question. I just answered the question by telling you my colleague at the White House counsel has dealt with this, and I would refer you to them.”
