Son Hunter poses integrity issues for US President Joe Biden
Many US presidents have had problem relatives but wayward son raises uncomfortable questions of integrity for his father.
It sounded like quite the Fourth of July party at the White House last weekend, with all the traditional holiday fare – burgers, hot dogs, beer, cocaine. Yes, it seems that, along with Chinese-made flags and Mexican-brewed booze, for some thrillseeking Americans the best way to celebrate the nation’s birthday these days is with a little side dish of their favourite Colombian import. Anything to keep them gallantly streaming till the dawn’s early light, perhaps.
Late on Sunday, during what was described as a routine check, security officers at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave discovered a small quantity of white powder in the West Wing.
You may snort, but some wicked people with little regard for the tragedy of human frailty or the blunt force of defamation law immediately speculated that it might be something to do with Hunter Biden, the first son of the United States, among whose many past insalubrious habits include an acknowledged addiction to crack cocaine. But it quickly emerged that Biden Fils had left the executive mansion with his dad for Camp David on Friday and so in this respect at least his nose was clean.
Subsequent investigation determined that the substance was found in a place where visitors are required to relinquish their valuables and electronics. Something tells me the rightful owner will not be calling lost and found.
The juxtaposition of cocaine and Biden in the same sentence, however, was a coincidental but useful reminder of the legal and ethical snowstorm that continues to swirl around America’s first family.
In some ways, Hunter is merely the latest example of that staple of American history: the problem presidential relative. Two centuries ago, John Payne Todd, stepson of James Madison, was afflicted by a serious gambling problem and had to be bailed out by his exalted stepfather. Of more recent vintage is Roger Clinton, Bill’s half-brother, codenamed “Headache” by the secret service.
He used his relative’s accession to the presidency in 1993, in the absence of any talent, to launch a music and acting career. When that flopped, he got friendly with the Gambino mob family, who gave him $US50,000 and a Rolex watch in return for efforts to lobby Bill to secure a presidential pardon for the don.
His efforts were ultimately in vain but his half-brother did meet him halfway, issuing a presidential pardon for his own earlier conviction for cocaine possession.
This brings us symmetrically back to Hunter Biden. Last month the president’s younger son, whose long history of sexual, financial and narcotic exploits would make the average strip club owner blush, struck a deal with prosecutors to end a long-running investigation into tax evasion and unlawful gun ownership. The bargain, by which he will serve no prison time, raised eyebrows and questions about favourable treatment. A whistleblower within the Internal Revenue Service, Gary Shapley, has come forward to allege that Biden administration officials repeatedly intervened in the investigation to ensure leniency.
We are also learning more about the media suppression of stories on Hunter’s misdeeds weeks before the 2020 presidential election. In October of that year the New York Post broke the news that a laptop belonging to Hunter contained multiple embarrassing emails. They concerned business dealings in which it was evident he had exploited his relationship with his father to amass millions of dollars in fees from foreign governments and companies for “consulting work”, despite questions over his expertise.
The report was denied and denounced by Biden himself, and helpfully largely blacked out by media and tech companies, on the questionable ground that officials warned it could be a Russian “misinformation” campaign. No remotely inquisitive person could have believed that, and now we know that the FBI had actually authenticated the laptop as Hunter’s a year earlier.
All this indicates a concerted and quite ruthless attempt within the government to protect a wayward Biden. But who are they really protecting? Is Hunter just another problem presidential relative or is there a taint that falls on the president himself?
Republicans are floating allegations that the president directly benefited from Hunter’s lucrative business, though there is no hard evidence for this. We do know that Hunter’s influence-peddling was widely known at the time. A senior Obama administration official told me years ago that his efforts to extract money from foreigners were a constant source of concern.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is digging deeper. The most colourful of the recent allegations involves supposed WhatsApp messages of Hunter threatening an official of a Chinese company that he would create trouble if he was not immediately wired $US5 million ($7.55 million) – and reinforcing the threat by suggesting that his father, then vice-president, was sitting in the room with him at the time.
These claims are unverified but it is clear that Hunter secured a huge sum of money and this raises two problems for Joe Biden himself. If Hunter really did benefit to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, you don’t have to unearth a trail that leads directly to the patriarch to believe there is a serious ethical problem with the family gaining financially from the vice-presidency.
Biden continues to maintain, implausibly, that he knew nothing of his son’s business dealings. Few people believe that a man in his position could, or should, have been ignorant of a close family member cashing millions from foreign governments and companies.
Perhaps, in this respect, concerns for the man’s memory might be politically helpful.
The Times
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