Try as she might to ignore them and find favor with liberal reporters who won’t join in, Hunter Biden questions aren’t stopping anytime soon for White House press secretary Jen Psaki with Friday’s Psaki Show being the latest example in the form of a tense back and forth with the New York Post’s Steven Nelson.
Friday’s exchanged followed two questions the day prior (thanks to Real Clear Politics’s Philip Wegmann and the Daily Mail’s Rob Crilly) about a New York Times story that all but acknowledged Nelson’s Post was correct when it came to emails detailing Hunter’s life of corruption on a laptop left at a Delaware repair shop.
Nelson kept his Times-specific question brief: “The New York Times reported this week that the First Son remains under criminal investigation. Does the President still intend to stay out of that case?”
Psaki largely stuck to her line from Thursday: “Yes. It's Department of Justice and I would point you to them.”
Nelson then shrewdly approached the issue of Biden family corruption from a different angle, starting with a Senate Republican report (which CNN and the other so-called fact-checkers have denounced as without evidence) that said a company connected “to the First Son received $3.5 million from the richest woman in Russia.”
Nelson added that, citing a e-mail on Hunter’s laptop, “President Biden, when he was vice president, had a dinner in Georgetown with the same woman in 2015.”
He said that Russian billionaire Elena Baturina “has not been sanctioned yet by the U.S. government,” which led to this stinging query:
How is the president navigating conflicts of interest when it comes to sanctioning people who have done business with his family and can you explain to us what this $3.5 million was for?
Like the liberal media did in 2020, Psaki insisted she hasn’t seen “any confirmation of the accuracy of that report, so I have no more further details on that.”
Nelson kept pressing even though Psaki tried to move to another reporter (click “expand”):
NELSON: You didn't say anything about the conflicts of interest, though, how he's navigating those when deciding sanctions.
PSAKI: What would be his conflicts of interest?
NELSON: Well, his son's company allegedly got $3.5 million from —
PSAKI: Which I have no confirmation of and he has continued to sanction oligarchs, more than we have ever sanctioned in the past. I'm not sure it is a conflict of interest.
NELSON: But she hasn’t been sanctioned, though.
PSAKI [TO OTHER REPORTER]: Go ahead.
NELSON: She hasn’t been sanctioned, though.
PSAKI [TO NELSON]: Thank you. [TO OTHER REPORTER] Go ahead.
NELSON: I have a question about Russia. [TO OTHER REPORTER] I’m sorry —
PSAKI: I think we're moving on —
NELSON: [TO OTHER REPORTER] — I’m sorry. I have one more.
PSAKI: — because we've got to get to more people. [TO OTHER REPORTER] Go ahead.
Nelson hung tough and asked one last question how Hunter Biden’s lawyer has yet to present evidence his client “divested from a Chinese investment fund controlled by Chinese state-owned entities” such as “who bought his stake, when this happened, and how much money changed hands.”
When he said he wanted to know if Hunter “actually divest[ed] and, if so, can you agree to basic transparency,” Psaki closed by reiterating her talking points that didn’t fly for her friends in the press during the Trump years: “He's a citizen. He doesn't work for the government. I’d point you to his representatives.”
When Nelson asked Psaki about this on December 6, 2021, the Washington Examiner’s Jerry Dunleavy reported on the Shanghai-based company, Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Company (click “expand”):
Hunter Biden long held a 10% ownership stake in Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company through his solely owned LLC called Skaneateles.
(....)
A review of BHR’s financial documents shows the firm had access to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars for Chinese and global investments and set up a complicated web of China-based and Cayman Island shell companies and subsidiaries.
Joe Biden said in December 2020 his family would not be involved in "any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict with an appropriate distance from the presidency and government.”
Despite the brief November statement from Hunter Biden’s lawyer, the president’s son still appears to hold a 10% equity stake in BHR, according to Chinese business records. It is possible the records simply have not been updated yet.
Three Chinese business websites, run by Baidu, Qixin, and QCC, all show updates with Hunter Biden's name removed from the BHR board of directors in April 2020, but the sites currently show Skaneateles as still being a “sponsor/shareholder” with 3 million yuan, or $464,000, invested.
A report for Skaneateles, obtained by the Washington Examiner from D.C.’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, still lists Hunter Biden as the “governor” for the company as of Oct. 20, when a $400 filing fee was paid. The address for the president’s son is listed in Culver City, California.
To see the relevant briefing transcript from March 18, click “expand.”
White House press briefing [via CBSN]
March 18, 2022
4:07 p.m. EasternSTEVEN NELSON: I’ve got a quick clarification and two questions about presidential conflicts of interest in foreign affairs. The first brief clarification is: The New York Times reported this week that the First Son remains under criminal investigation. Does the President still intend to stay out of that case?
JEN PSAKI: Yes. It's Department of Justice and I would point you to them.
NELSON: Okay. And my two questions about conflicts of interest in foreign affairs. First, I have a question about Russia and then one about China. On Russia, you told me last year that you were unfamiliar with the senate report that alleged that the First Son — or a company linked to the First Son received $3.5 million from the richest woman in Russia. Subsequent reporting indicates that President Biden, when he was vice president, had a dinner in Georgetown with the same woman in 2015. This — Elena Baturina— she has not been sanctioned yet by the U.S. government. How is the president navigating conflicts of interest when it comes to sanctioning people who have done business with his family and can you explain to us what this $3.5 million was for?
PSAKI: I don’t have any confirmation of the accuracy of that report, so I have no more further details on that.
NELSON: You didn't say anything about the conflicts of interest, though, how he's navigating those when deciding sanctions.
PSAKI: What would be his conflicts of interest?
NELSON: Well, his son's company allegedly got $3.5 million from —
PSAKI: Which I have no confirmation of and he has continued to sanction oligarchs, more than we have ever sanctioned in the past. I'm not sure it is a conflict of interest.
NELSON: But she hasn’t been sanctioned, though.
PSAKI [TO OTHER REPORTER]: Go ahead.
NELSON: She hasn’t been sanctioned, though.
PSAKI [TO NELSON]: Thank you. [TO OTHER REPORTER] Go ahead.
NELSON: I have a question about Russia. [TO OTHER REPORTER] I’m sorry —
PSAKI: I think we're moving on —
NELSON: [TO OTHER REPORTER] — I’m sorry. I have one more.
PSAKI: — because we've got to get to more people. [TO OTHER REPORTER] Go ahead.
NELSON: My — my — my —
PSAKI [TO OTHER REPORTER]: Go ahead.
NELSON: — question about the conflict of interest when it comes to China is, last year, the First Son's attorney said that he divested from a Chinese investment fund controlled by Chinese state-owned entities. We have received not even basic transparency about who bought his stake, when this happened, and how much money changed hands. Did he actually divest and, if so, can you agree to basic transparency?
PSAKI: He's a citizen. He doesn't work for the government. I’d point you to his representatives.
NELSON: It’s a conflict of interest because of his father’s role as President because of China.
PSAKI: I think we're done here. Thank you very much.
