On August 9, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability Majority Staff released a third bank records memorandum within the framework of the ongoing investigation of the Bidens' alleged influence peddling schemes.
The committee identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources to the Biden family and their business associates during Joe Biden's vice presidential tenure.
Per House GOP investigators, Biden family members and partners routinely collected money from Ukrainian, Kazakh, Chinese, Russian, and Romanian nationals in exchange for protection, assistance, and access to then-Vice President Joe Biden.
"Joe Biden was 'The Brand' sold around the world to enrich the Biden family and he was used to 'signal' their access, influence, and power," the congressional memo reads. "Then-Vice President Biden met - in person, for significant periods of time - with those individuals or their representatives. Then-Vice President Biden joined approximately 20 phone calls on speakerphone with Hunter Biden’s foreign business associates and attended dinners with foreign oligarchs who paid huge sums of money to Hunter Biden. Joe Biden, 'the brand,' was the only product the Bidens sold."
The memo also referred to the change of the White House's narrative regarding Joe Biden's apparent involvement in his son's business dealings. While, previously, Team Biden had claimed that Joe was unaware of Hunter's financial activities and never discussed them, now they say that the "President was not in business with his son." Still, the White House staff refuses to comment about this departure from previous statements, the memo noted.
Commenting on the release of the third memo, Committee Chairman James Comer opined that the data obtained by the committee confirms the assumption that the Bidens, including Joe, were involved in "pay-for-play."
Comer particularly drew parallels between bank records and Hunter's partners getting access to then-Vice President Biden, including two dinners in April 2014 and 2015 at Washington, DC's Café Milano. Most recently, US renowned legal scholar Jonathan Turley brought focus on the discussions surrounding Joe's visits to Café Milano. The lawyer noted that the testimony by Devon Archer – Hunter's longtime business partner – indicated that the elder Biden had indeed spent time with his son's clients and was aware of Hunter's business schemes.
"Then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with oligarchs from around the world who had sent money to his son. It’s clear Joe Biden knew about his son’s business dealings and allowed himself to be 'the brand' sold to enrich the Biden family while he was Vice President of the United States," Comer emphasized.