The White House repeatedly refused on Friday to rule out the possibility that President Joe Biden could pardon his son Hunter Biden or brother James Biden if suspected financial crimes related to business dealings in China are proven in court, despite questions from multiple journalists and a growing volume of articles on the subject.
“That’s not a hypothetical I’m going to entertain,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told a room full of journalists after she was asked whether the president had considered a pardon for his son Hunter or brother James, both of whom are being investigated for financial impropriety regarding a business deal with Chinese firm CEFC China Energy.
Asked about the president’s continued insistence that there was nothing “unethical” and that Hunter Biden had made no money from “this thing about what you’re talking about, China,” Bedingfield doubled down on the elder Biden’s denial – made over a year earlier – that his son was guilty of any wrongdoing. “We absolutely stand by the president’s comment,” she said, insisting she did not have “anything to add from this podium” when the question was phrased another way.
Hunter Biden is currently being investigated by the Justice Department regarding a business deal he was involved with in China, proof of which surfaced almost two years ago on the infamous “laptop from hell” left by him at a repair shop in Delaware. The younger Biden appeared to have raked in millions of dollars for a consulting role despite insisting the deal itself “fell through,” and his Chinese partner in the affair was later detained in China.
Read more: White House refuses to rule out pardon for Hunter Biden
