White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she would not ask President Joe Biden if he was sitting next to Hunter Biden in 2017 when he demanded payment from CCP-linked Chinese businessman Henry Zhao, as claimed by Hunter according to messages revealed by an IRS whistleblower.
Henry Zhao, influential in forming a Chinese investment fund, had deep ties to Chinese intelligence, according to Breitbart News senior contributor and Government Accountability Institute president Peter Schweizer.
Emails reveal Hunter Biden played an important role in brokering a joint venture between the Chinese firm Bohai Harvest and Burnham, a firm owned by Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s business partner.
A newly released screen capture from July 30, 2017, of a WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao shows Hunter Biden putting pressure on Zhao for payment using the influence of his father, Joe Biden, who was in the room.
Within ten days of Hunter Biden’s message, a CEFC subsidiary sent two payments totaling $5.1 million to accounts linked to Hunter, records cited in the Senate GOP investigation show.
“Have you spoken to the president about this? Have you asked him whether he was there with his son on July 30, 2017?” a reporter asked Jean-Pierre during Friday’s press conference.
“This is not a conversation that I’ve had with the president,” she replied.
“Do you plan to have that conversation?” the reporter asked.
“No,” she said.
The line of questioning was just one exchange during Friday’s press conference. Reporters asked a host of questions to both Jean-Pierre and John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.
Neither had much to say in reply:
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.