Raw: [Hunter Biden Text Cited in Impeachment Inquiry Is Not What G.O.P. Suggests The New York Times] {Article Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/us/politics/hunter-biden-texts-impeachment-republicans.html}
Skip to contentSkip to site indexPolitics Today’s PaperBiden Impeachment CaseHouse Approves InquiryWhat Happens Next?Hunter Biden Defies SubpoenaRepublicans’ Political ShiftU.S.WorldBusinessArtsLifestyleOpinionAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticBiden Impeachment CaseHouse Approves InquiryWhat Happens Next?Hunter Biden Defies SubpoenaRepublicans’ Political ShiftAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Biden Impeachment CaseHouse Approves InquiryWhat Happens Next?Hunter Biden Defies SubpoenaRepublicans’ Political ShiftSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTHunter Biden Text Cited in Impeachment Inquiry Is Not What G.O.P. SuggestsA 2019 message from the president’s son alluded to giving his father half his salary. The back story offers unflattering insights into the Biden family but does not support assertions of corruption.Share full articleHunter Biden’s texts have been misunderstood or distorted by Republicans.Credit…Leigh Vogel for The New York TimesBy Adam EntousDec. 22, 2023, 5:02 a.m. ETIn January 2019, Hunter Biden sent a text message to his daughter Naomi.“I Hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family Fro 30 years,” he wrote in the typo-filled message. “It’s really hard. But don’t worry unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary.”As they pursue their impeachment inquiry into President Biden, House Republicans have seized on that message and others sent to or from his son to try to link the president — “Pop,” in this case — to Hunter Biden’s business activities, suggesting that members of the Biden family reaped millions from a global influence-peddling scheme.In the case of the message from Hunter Biden to his daughter, Republicans have portrayed it as evidence that he was privately acknowledging that he split his income with his father, who in early 2019 was out of office but preparing to begin the campaign that would put him in the White House. That income included the millions of dollars that Hunter Biden received from Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company, and from a company owned by a Chinese energy tycoon.At a hearing in September, Representative Byron Donalds, Republican of Florida, displayed the message and asked a witness, Bruce G. Dubinsky, a forensic accountant, “If you saw a text message like this in a potential money laundering operation, or a potential pay-for-play operation, would you be looking for information related to money going from son to father?”Mr. Dubinsky answered, “Absolutely.”But a close examination of the circumstances surrounding the 2019 text message, along with others that have been cited by Republicans during the impeachment inquiry and elsewhere to suggest that Hunter Biden’s foreign income was shared with or benefited his father, shows the extent to which the contents of the communications have been misunderstood or outright distorted. And while it does not rule out the possibility that House Republicans could unearth evidence showing wrongdoing by President Biden, it underscores the flimsy nature of the material they have presented publicly so far.The story behind the message, as explained by the Bidens and backed up by other interviews and a review of Hunter Biden’s emails and text messages, offers sometimes unflattering insights into the family’s finances and internal dynamics. And it adds more detail to what is known about Hunter Biden’s erratic and irresponsible behavior while in the throes of addiction.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSite IndexSite Information Navigation© 2023 The New York Times CompanyNYTCoContact UsAccessibilityWork with usAdvertiseT Brand StudioYour Ad ChoicesPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceTerms of SaleSite MapCanadaInternationalHelpSubscriptionsManage Privacy Preferences
