The Biden Family Accounts

Did the Oversight Committee ask the right questions?

One of the surprises with the investigation into Hunter Biden is the lack of attention paid to the bank accounts for all involved.  The House Committee seems to be focused on direct payments from Hunter or Jim to Joe.  I don’t think even they are that dumb.  And it’s not necessary.

Joe’s benefit is Hunter’s jobs and pay.  Who wouldn’t want their son to be financially well off.  That in itself is enough of a benefit to show corruption if Joe is helping.  The icing on the cake would be proof that Joe Biden is personally using that financial benefit.

It seemed like that was happening.  Hunter sardonically speaks about paying Joe’s bills.  They use the same financial adviser, Eric Schwerin.  Loans are floating around the family.  The Biden’s finances appear irrevocably intertwined.  Yet the House Oversight Committee doesn’t seem to have the answers to this important question.

Take a look at this exchange during Hunter’s deposition:

·       Mr. Gaetz. How many times did you pay for your father's household expenses?

·       Hunter Biden. I don't know. I can't answer that.

·       Mr. Gaetz. More or less than 10?

·       Hunter Biden. I can't answer that here.

·       Mr. Gaetz. More or less than 20?

·       Hunter Biden. I am under oath, and I'm not going to answer with any specificity or generality whatsoever. I do not know.

·       Mr. Gaetz. More or less than 50?

·       Hunter Biden. Again, Mr. Gaetz, I cannot answer with any specificity –

·       Mr. Lowell. Why don't you go to 100 or 200 or 500, because the answer will be the same.

·       Hunter Biden. I do not know. Yeah. 

·       Mr. Gaetz. Okay. More or less than 500 times have you paid expenses for your dad?

·       Mr. Lowell. Go to 1,000. He just said he doesn't know. Take any number you want.

Right after this exchange, Hunter points out that the Committee has all of his finances, all his accounts, and all of his tax returns.  He is right.  Why are they asking questions that they don’t have the answers to?  Why are they asking Hunter these juvenile questions?  He is obviously not going to answer them.  Note also that Hunter doesn’t deny that he has paid household expenses, just that he doesn’t know how many. 

The Committee should have known every suspicious transaction Hunter made and be pinning him into a corner.  Subpoena the bank details, subpoena the companies that were paid out for records and see what the money was spent on.  There is no reason that the House Committee doesn’t know every potential transaction that benefitted Joe.  Maybe there are none.  Perhaps this is just a big smoke show.  But there is a lot of smoke. 

Perhaps they should look at the $2.74 million in cash that Joe paid for his Rehoboth Beach house shortly after he left the Vice Presidency.  Hunter was raking in millions from his overseas connections at that point.  No doubt there was money being moved around prior to paying that tab.  Was any of it tied to Hunter?

Take this exchange gleaned from Hunter’s laptop as an example of what the Oversight Committee should be asking about. On May 24, 2018, Hunter was engaged in patronizing a prostitute in Los Angeles.  The “escort”, Yanna Nova, needed to get paid.  Hunter, likely in a drug induced haze, began paying wire transfers from a Wells Fargo account.  The bank flagged the transfer, probably because the receiving account was tied to prostitution.  Hunter, thinking that the transfer didn’t go through starts making additional transfers.  He eventually inadvertently transferred $25,000 to the escort service. 

What happens next is the important part.  Robert Savage, the recently retired Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles field office, contacts Hunter via text.  He physically shows up at the hotel trying to get a hold of Hunter.  He texted Hunter, “Come on H (Hunter) this is linked to Celtic’s (Joe Biden) account.  DC is calling me every 10. Let me up or come down. I can’t help if you don’t let me H.”  Savage eventually comes to the door, possibly with associates and the hotel staff to get Hunter.  Leave aside why a recently retired boss in the Secret Service is getting involved in this fiasco. (his attorney denied that he was involved)

“DC” is calling because of the usage on the account that overpaid prostitute Yanna Nova.  That means that Joe Biden or his designee is getting alerts on this account.  Joe has access to this account.  Is Joe monitoring Hunter’s banking due to his drug use?  Possibly, but there doesn’t seem to be other similar incidents despite Hunter patronizing prostitutes and spending vociferously before and after this incident.  It could very well be a joint account.  Even if Joe is not on the account, he obviously has access to it.  Savage himself states that the accounts are “linked”.

This account should have picked over with a fine-toothed comb by the House Oversight Committee.  Every transaction should be closely examined to see where money went and who spent it.  Hunter’s questioning from the Committee doesn’t indicate that they did that. 

Even if Hunter is not systemically paying Joe’s expenses, there must be some crossover.  They are father and son and are close.  A lunch tab or bill here or there would be routine, yet the Oversight Committee appears to have nothing.  One would hope they worked toward establishing a systemic system of payments.  Again, perhaps it is simply not there, but their questions don’t indicate that they have looked closely enough. The Oversight Committee should address this issue and state that they found nothing or that they are continuing to look.

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