President Biden appeared to mock Republican efforts to investigate his family’s financial dealings, saying he had “bounced a few checks” in the past. The President addressed his administration’s efforts to curb bank charges for “basic services like checking your account balance.” He added that it was very difficult to look up or obtain records of an individual’s banking history; he ignored a question from the audience asking if his bank records would reveal the receipt of foreign funds.
The Biden family’s finances are under intense scrutiny by Congressional Republicans who believe it has benefited from corrupt business practices for many years. The GOP probe has revealed cash movements from one family member to another and millions in payments from foreign countries to the President’s son, Hunter Biden.
In October, for example, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said he uncovered a payment of $200,000 to President Biden from his brother James in 2018, on the same day he received the same amount from a US hospital chain in exchange for a promise to secure an investor. The payment between the brothers was listed as a “loan repayment,” but no further detail was documented.
The hospital chain Americore Health was reportedly in financial trouble at the time, and Comer accuses James Biden of promising to use the Biden name to open doors to investors. He said James Biden had engaged in “shady influence peddling.” Paul Fishman, James Biden’s attorney, refuted the claims and said, “At no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.”
Americore Health later filed for bankruptcy.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote to James Comer about the $200,000 transfer and said it was “a short-term, interest-free loan between brothers” and that it was made while President Biden was a private citizen. He was not in public office or running for public office at the time his brother transferred the funds, Raskin said.
