James Biden insisted to congressional investigators that his president brother never benefitted or had knowledge of his business dealings due to his own ‘strong ethics’ and Joe’s ‘personal integrity.’
He is expected to sit for hours as lawmakers on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees question him. They plan to ask James specifically about a $200,000 payment he made to Joe shortly after a lucrative business deal.
James insisted in his opener that his brother had never benefitted financially from his work with CEFC. The money had been marked ‘loan repayment’ on the check’s memo field.
In 2017, James Biden was loaned $600,000 by a company he is now accused of defrauding – Americore. The same day as $200,000 came in from the health care firm, March 1, 2017, James wrote the check to Joe for $200,000.
In his opening statement, obtained by DailyMail.com, James claimed that his brother Joe ‘never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest’ in anything related to his 50-year business career.
James Biden – the brother of President Joe Biden – arrives Wednesday morning to testify before Congress in his brother’s impeachment inquiry
And shortly after another lucrative deal with Chinese state-affiliated with CEFC China Energy, James wrote another check to Joe Biden, this time for $40,000 and also marked as ‘loan repayment.’
James described the payments to investigators: ‘They were short-term loans that I received from Joe when he was a private citizen, and I repaid them within weeks. He had no information at all about the source of the funds I used to repay him. The complete explanation is that Joe lent me money, and I repaid him as soon as I had the funds to do so.’
Bank records seen by DailyMail.com indicate wires from Joe to James weeks before the repayments were made.
James went on: ‘I never asked my brother to take any official action on behalf of me, my business associates, or anyone else.’
‘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.’
But a Politico report this week revealed James invoked his brother’s name to now-bankrupt Americore on multiple occasions, and even spoke of plans to give his brother equity and install him on the board.
James even offered to have his brother promote the company in a future presidential campaign, one executive said.
‘Because of my intimate knowledge of my brother’s personal integrity and character, as well as my own strong ethics, I have always kept my professional life separate from our close personal relationship.’
James also reportedly offered to secure funds from investors in the Middle East to fund Americore’s expansion.
The expected funds did not arrive and led to the downfall of the healthcare company, which left bills unpaid and patients untreated. The company also remains under investigation, accused of $100million in Medicare fraud.
At least three of the president’s relatives were also employed by Americore, including Jim’s wife Sara and his son Jamie, Politico reported.
Americore imploded in 2019 and filed for bankruptcy amid a pile of lawsuits and a federal investigation into fraud allegations. Americore also accused Jim Biden of failing to repay $600,000 in loans.
Politico’s investigation did not find that the president directly involved himself in the fraud, but ‘did benefit indirectly from his brother’s work with the firm,’ with the loan repayments.
The highly-anticipated closed-door interview on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning is part of Republicans’ probe into whether President Joe Biden profited off his son Hunter and brother Jim’s business dealings.
James, 74, who strikingly resembles his older brother Joe, 81, ignored shouted questions before going through security.
He did not reply when a reporter loudly asked him ‘did Hunter smoke crack in the White House?’ as he entered the O’Neill House Office Building, referring to his drug-addicted nephew.
Immediately before the deposition, top Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio, said James’ testimony will be a crucial piece of the puzzle in unraveling how the Biden family acquired over $20 million in foreign money over the years.
Last week, however, the GOP was dealt a blow to their case for impeachment after Special Counsel David Weiss charged FBI informant Alexander Smirnov – the source behind the alleged $10 million ‘bribery scheme’ between a Ukraine oil giant and Joe and Hunter – with lying about the Biden’s business dealings. He was also found to have ‘high-level’ contacts with Russian intelligence officials.
But that is not deterring Republicans, who dismissed the informant as only part of a complex money trail involving the Bidens and foreigners they are working to unravel.
Jordan told reporters that the Smirnov indictment ‘doesn’t change the fundamental facts’ of Hunter’s work on the board of Burisma, the Ukraine energy company.
House Republicans believe testimony from James will shed light on how the Biden family accumulated millions of dollars over the years Joe was one of Washington’s top politicians
‘We’ll focus on James Biden, he was involved in the pre-candidate stuff, the chapter that I call the money, the business, the brand,’ Jim Jordan said as the president’s brother arrived on Capitol Hill
Bobulinski, a Navy veteran, worked with Hunter Biden and his uncle Jim – Joe’s brother – in 2017 to create the joint-venture SinoHawk Holdings with CEFC
‘We’ll focus on James Biden, he was involved in the pre-candidate stuff, the chapter that I call the money, the business, the brand,’ Jordan also said on Fox News earlier Wednesday.
’20 different companies, over $20 million coming into Biden family members, all by selling access to the brand,’ he continued.
Democrats insisted that the Smirnov indictment blew up the whole foundation of the inquiry.
‘The whole impeachment inquiry has been built on the foundation of a lie and conspiracy theories, propaganda and disinformation promoted by Russian intelligence agents,’ top Oversight Democrat Jamie Raskin told reporters on his way into the deposition.
‘We discovered that yesterday so I don’t know why we need to continue the charade any longer,’ he added.
Republicans have hauled in a steady stream of Biden family members and associates over the last several weeks as their investigation picks up steam.
Biden family associates Mervyn Yan, Rob Walker and Eric Schwerin testified behind closed doors earlier this year. In addition, former business pals Joey Langston and Tony Bobulinski were most recently grilled by investigators just last week.
Bobulinski gave the clearest indication yet that Joe was acutely aware of his family’s deals, telling lawmakers that ‘the Biden family business was Joe Biden, period,’ DailyMail.com learned.
That interview erupted in fireworks with Democrats shouting at the former Hunter associate. Raskin said the James Biden interview was a much more ‘subdued affair,’ especially after the indictment of Smirnov.
‘It feels to me as if everyone knows the impeachment investigation is over,’ said Raskin.
‘I’m restating my call to Chairman [James] Comer to Speaker [Mike] Johnson to fold up the tent to this circus show. It’s really over at this point.’
Joe was involved in the lucrative CEFC deal alleged Bobulinski, who called the president an ‘enabler’ who was ‘being buffered by a complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability.’
His testimony flies in the face of the White House’s insistence that Joe was never involved in his family’s businesses at any point.
And next week the GOP’s star witness Hunter Biden will sit before Republicans on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.
GOP lawmakers allege that Joe got paid directly from his brother who used their last name to ‘open doors’ and opportunities to enrich the family.
Jordan is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and also serves on the House Oversight Committee
Jordan and other House Republicans believe James Biden’s testimony will shed light on the Biden family’s business dealings before Joe was elected to the Oval Office
Rep. Jamie Raskin, R-Md., poured cold water on the impeachment inquiry telling reporters Wednesday morning the proceedings are based on lies
Despite not being a public health consultant or medical expert, James Biden was hired by Americore – as the health care startup was trying to build hospitals in rural America as his brother was leaving the vice presidency in 2017.
But unfortunately for Americore, James Biden and his connections fell flat.
The company imploded in 2019, filing for bankruptcy amid a pile of lawsuits and a federal investigation into fraud allegations. Americore also accused Jim Biden of failing to repay $600,000 in loans.
This week, sources told Politico that Jim used his relationship with his older brother to pursue deals and make pitches that rewarded the company with funds for drug rehab, cancer treatments and lab testing.
And at least three of the president’s relatives were also employed by Americore, including Jim’s wife Sara and his son Jamie.
Americore Trustee Carol Fox sat for an interview with the Oversight Committee in December, during which she revealed that he used his last name to ‘open doors’ and bolster his business opportunities.
Fox has sued James Biden claiming he made ‘representations that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.’
Fox alleged James Biden helped procure ‘an ill-advised bridge loan from a hedge fund that had a deleterious impact on the financial affairs of the Debtor and ultimately forced Debtors into bankruptcy, as [James Biden] never delivered the promised large investment from the Middle East.’
Jim Biden eventually repaid Americore $350,000 to settle the lawsuit – though his lawyers said he played no role in the company’s demise and that he had received the money for consulting work, not loans, as the Fox had alleged as the trustee.
According to one source familiar with the interview, Fox identified no services rendered by James Biden to Americore – and that Americore provided a ‘loan’ to James Biden with no documentation in return for a promise of funding from the Middle East that never came.
Another source with direct knowledge of the interview insisted Fox said she had no evidence of Joe Biden being involved in his brother’s business and she said she believed the settlement was fair and equitable.
Joe Biden, seen with his son Hunter in June, has always insisted he was not involved in Hunter’s business dealings
President Joe Biden sits in a golf a cart as he plays golf with his brother Jim
Republicans interrogated Hunter Biden ‘s business partner who has since turned on him, Tony Bobulinski, on Tuesday
According to bankruptcy court documents, James Biden took money from his health care business Americore and sent it directly to his brother Joe Biden.
The documents show that in 2018, James Biden obtained $600,000 in loans from Americore. James was able to receive the loans based upon ‘representations’ that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors.’
On March 1, 2018, Americore wired a $200,000 loan into the personal bank account of James and Sara Biden.
That same day, James Biden wrote a $200,000 check to ‘Joseph R. Biden’ from his personal account for a ‘loan repayment.’ At the time, Joe had already left the vice presidency position.
Democrats point to bank records showing that weeks earlier Joe had lent James the exact same amount in a wire transfer.
But Republicans say that nothing in that wire said ‘loan’ or ‘Joe Biden’ and there is no definitive answer about which exact account the money came from.
Republicans leading the investigation into the Biden family’s ‘influence peddling scheme’ that is the center of their impeachment inquiry into the president, say this personal check directly shows Joe was aware of – and included in – his family’s dealings.
James’ attorney Paul J. Fishman previously stated that ‘at no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.’