PHOTOSHunter's Laptop, Overseas Business Dealings and More: Everything The Biden Family Has Been Accused of in 11 Clicks
Hunter Biden's Laptop Controversy
Hunter Biden sued two people for allegedly accessing and sharing his personal data from his laptop.
Hunter Biden sparked controversy when he reportedly left his laptop at a Delaware computer shop in 2019 after damaging it in water. The New York Post published a report in October 2020 saying it obtained a copy of the laptop's data from Donald Trump's then-personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani obtained it from the owner of The Mac Shop, John Paul Mac Isaac.
"I realized that there was a lot of sensitive and embarrassing material on the laptop. Also, some questionable criminality as well. So I was concerned," Isaac told Verify.
He said he repeatedly contacted Hunter to pick up the laptop and pay for the services, but the businessman never appeared again. Due to his concerns after Joe Biden announced his presidential run, he planned to hand it over to law enforcement instead.
The media outlet, based on the information it obtained, confirmed that the laptop contained some of the emails related to Hunter's foreign business dealings. After years of the saga, Hunter sued Giuliani and attorney Robert Costello for allegedly spending years "hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over" the data that was "taken or stolen."
On the other hand, an independent review commissioned by CBS News found no evidence that the user data had been fabricated or modified.
The Laptop Also Had 10,000 Photos on It
The content of the laptop has been made available to the public through the website BidenLaptopMedia.com.
BidenLaptopMedia.com founder Garrett Ziegler explained they created the website to show the 10,000 photos — obtained from Hunter's laptop — which were taken between 2008 and 2019.
"It's taken us a couple of months to, one go through the photos, about 10,000 of them, and redact the genitalia on the photos," he alleged. "The number one thing we're about is truth and transparency, if the American people want to know what their first family is like, they're going to get it."
Joe Biden Used His Vice President Role to Connect With Hunter Biden's Business Partners
Hunter Biden's laptop included folders that bore the names 'Desktop Documents' and 'Biden Burisma,' among others.
Hunter served on the board of Burisma, a Ukraine energy company, from 2014 to 2019 while dealing with drug addiction.
During the House Republicans' gathering in September (via ABC News), House Speaker Kevin McCarthy alleged that Joe used his role as then-vice president to coordinate with his son's business partners regarding the latter's role in Burisma.
Hunter's office and the White House had an email exchange in December 2015, in which the American attorney's business partner Eric Schwerin and Joe's then-communications staffer Kate Bedingfield worked together on a response to the media once asked about the details of Hunter's appointment.
Bedingfield stated that "VP signed off on this," with the official statement declaring that Hunter was a "private citizen" and that Joe did not endorse any company and had no involvement in Burisma.
President Joe Biden Lied About His Family's Business Deals
Joe Biden firmly stated that he never discussed with anyone in the family anything about their businesses.
The House Republicans claimed that Joe concealed the truth when he made his statement about their family's business deals and Hunter's connection with China despite the latter previously testifying in open court that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Chinese business partners.
In addition, Hunter once told The New Yorker that his father addressed his appointment to the Burisma board, revealing, "Dad said, 'I hope you know what you are doing,' and I said, 'I do,'"
President Joe Biden Reportedly Received a $5 Million Bribe
The source was reportedly interviewed for verification of the claim.
In 2020, the Justice Department appointed by Donald Trump interviewed the confidential FBI informant who claimed the Biden family urged the Ukrainian oligarch $10 million — with Joe and Hunter to receive $5 million each — to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor named Viktor Shokin.
The unnamed source mentioned on the FD-1023 form declared that the interactions happened in 2015 and 2016 as the chief executive of Burisma Mykola Zlochevsky wanted to oust Shokin for investigating the company at that time.
"A highly credible FBI source alleges that Joe Biden received $5 million in exchange for pressuring for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian natural gas firm that Hunter Biden was on the board of, Burisma," Representative Elise Stefanik said.
The Biden Family Received Special Treatment From the DOJ
Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss denied the claims.
Two IRS whistleblowers accused senior Justice Department officials of helping the Bidens off the hook by giving them "special treatments" amid the investigation. They alleged that the DOJ also failed to prosecute Hunter because he is related to the president,
The Family Received $20 Million in Payments During Joe Biden's Time as Vice President
Hunter Biden admitted to receiving millions of dollars from his business partners abroad.
The House Republicans also put a spotlight on the allegation that the Biden family received $20 million from foreign countries — including China, Romania, Russia and Ukraine — during Joe's time as vice president.
Stefanik said that banking records showed these transactions.
The POTUS Used Pseudonyms
High-profile government officials commonly use pseudonyms for their emails.
A White House official said Biden used multiple email addresses and aliases, including JRB Ware and Robert Peters, to prevent spammers from sending messages to his inbox. Amid the allegations that Joe was involved in his son's overseas business dealings, the House Republicans launched a request to have the National Archives hand over more than 5,000 messages Joe sent during his vice presidency.
"Joe Biden used at least three pseudonyms on over 5,000 emails. We know one of these, his son was copied on, in a pseudonym, that pertained to Ukraine," Representative James Comer alleged.
The President Joined Calls and Discussions About Hunter Biden's Business
Devon Archer testified on the allegation.
Hunter's former business partner Devon Archer claimed that he saw the businessman put Joe on speakerphone whenever he was with his business associates. The POTUS also attended two dinners, though Archer never confirmed whether they spoke about Hunter's business at that time.
"I don't remember the conversation. I just remember that [Joe Biden] came to dinner, and we ate and kind of talked about the world, I guess, and the weather, and then everybody left," Archer said while recalling the "birthday dinner" with the father and son tandem alongside foreign businesspeople.
The second meeting reportedly happened at the World Food Programme, so Archer testified that they probably spoke about the organization.
Still, these led to allegations that the president had been involved in his son's businesses.
"Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions – dinners, resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his son's and his son's business partners," McCarthy said during the impeachment inquiry launch.
They Had 150 Flagged Bank Transactions
According to ABC News, the transactions were not actual allegations of wrongdoing or criminal activity.
Per McCarthy, the Treasury Department recorded more than 150 transactions made by the Biden family and their business associates and that the U.S. banks flagged as suspicious activity. The filing of a "suspicious activity report" does not prove wrongdoing, and none of them showed that Biden was involved in Hunter's business deals.
Tara Reade Accused Joe Biden of Sexual Assault
She served as a senate staffer.
In 2020, former Senate staffer Tara Reade accused Joe of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when he was serving as a senator from Delaware. The 80-year-old president purportedly pushed her against a wall in a Senate office building before assaulting her and penetrating her with his fingers.
She also alleged in April 2019 that Joe touched her and made her uncomfortable while working in his office.
Biden responded to the allegation in a post on Medium, calling it "false."
"While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated," he wrote. "One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny."
