House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) demanded on Thursday that President Joe Biden provide applicable loan documents and IRS filings regarding the $200,000 “loan repayment” James Biden claims he repaid Joe in 2018.
The White House and James Biden, Joe Biden’s brother, denied the $200,000 check James gave Joe Biden was due to a pre-existing business relationship. They insist the money was a return payment for money Joe Biden lent him but have not provided the committee any evidence to prove their claims.
Comer believes the $200,000 payment is suspicious because the money flowed through a distressed entity, Americore, which loaned James Biden a total of $600,000. On March 1, 2018, Americore wired James Biden $200,000. That same day, James Biden sent Joe Biden a $200,000 check.
In a letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, Comer, a former bank board member, requested the loan agreement, along with any applicable IRS tax filings:
As you may know, the Internal Revenue Code has specific requirements for delineating and reporting “below-market [rate] loans” from gifts. While there are some exceptions, for example loans of $10,000 or less, the payment in question would not appear exempt from such requirements if it is a loan. Indeed, there appears to have been no interest paid on the “loan” based upon the White House’s own representations. The current lack of documentation leaves reason to doubt claims that this transaction was repayment for a legal loan. We request documentation clarifying the nature of this payment and whether all applicable documentation and IRS filings were properly made.
Comer said regardless of if the $200,000 check to Joe Biden was a loan repayment, Joe Biden benefited from his family cashing in on the Biden name:
The White House has claimed Joe Biden loaned James Biden $200,000, and this check was repayment. Records obtained by the Committee do show numerous large incoming transactions into the personal account of James and Sara Biden from various entities. Some of these transaction records may have obscured the identity of the true payer, but no records in the Committee’s possession state that Joe Biden made a large loan payment to his brother.
…
Whether it was a loan or not, James Biden’s March 1, 2018, check to Joe Biden aptly demonstrates one way he personally benefited from his family’s shady influence peddling of his name and their access to him. Even if the transaction in question was part of a loan agreement, we are troubled that Joe Biden’s ability to recoup funds depended on his brother’s cashing-in on the Biden brand.
Letter to WHCO Re Alleged Joe Biden Loan by Breitbart News on Scribd
Comer previously described the Biden business as a classic influence scheme. He believes the Biden family opened over 20 shell companies to hide payments and launder money. Comer’s analysis is especially relevant because he previously served as a bank board member before serving in Washington, DC.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a member of the Oversight Committee, exclusively told Breitbart News on Friday that “we finally have direct evidence of money laundering.” She continued, “It was a $200,000 check made out to Joe Biden, directly from Jim Biden, on the exact same day that Jim Biden had received $200,000 from a foreign investment.”