众议院共和党人周四，在他们的首次弹劾调查听证会他们将重新检查他们在对总统的调查中收集到的信息乔·拜登以及他家的生意往来。
“众议院共和党人发现了对拜登总统行为的严重和可信的指控，”众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡在本月早些时候下令调查时说。"这些是对滥用权力、阻挠和腐败的指控。"
他们声称，拜登总统参与了其家族的海外商业交易或从中获利，或者他在担任副总统期间不当影响了基于这些交易的政策，但这些说法尚未得到直接证据的支持。
让我们仔细看看针对拜登总统的一些具体指控，这些指控可能会在周四的听证会上讨论，以及拜登本人对他儿子的商业交易和弹劾调查的说法。
指控:拜登对其家族的商业交易撒谎
发言人麦卡锡和其他共和党高层声称，拜登对公众隐瞒了他对其家族商业交易的了解。
他们强调了拜登的具体声明，即他“从未与他的儿子或兄弟讨论过”任何涉及他们企业的事情，他的儿子也从未在中国赚过钱。
拜登关于中国的说法是不真实的。亨特·拜登在公开法庭上作证说，他接受了中国商业利益集团数十万美元的贿赂。
2023年9月25日，乔·拜登总统在华盛顿特区的白宫主持了与太平洋岛国领导人的峰会。
莉娅·米利斯/路透社
至于他是否“从未和儿子讨论过”生意，就不太清楚了。亨特·拜登的前商业伙伴德文·阿彻(Devon Archer)作证说，乔·拜登至少参加了两次与亨特·拜登外国商业伙伴的晚宴，并经常在外国商业伙伴在场的情况下与儿子通电话。
但阿彻也作证说，在这些互动中，生意从来没有出现过。他说，这些讨论通常是关于天气和其他温和的话题。值得注意的是，阿彻作证说，他从未目睹乔·拜登参与任何不当行为。
亨特·拜登还承认，至少有一次，乔·拜登向乌克兰能源公司Burisma的董事会提出了他的任命:“爸爸说，'我希望你知道你在做什么'，我说，'我知道，'”亨特·拜登告诉《纽约客》。
指控:拜登参与了有关亨特业务的电话和会议
麦卡锡在启动弹劾调查时表示:“目击者证明，总统参加了多次电话通话，并进行了多次互动——晚餐，导致汽车和数百万美元进入他儿子和他儿子的商业伙伴。”。
这样的陈述似乎主要基于阿彻的证词。
阿彻作证说，有多达20次，当亨特和生意伙伴在一起时，他看到亨特把他的父亲放在扬声器上。但他说，这些对话经常源于亨特“每天”与他父亲的谈话，他从未见过亨特与他父亲谈论亨特生意的实质。
阿彻还就乔·拜登参加的两次不同的晚宴作证，但从未表明讨论了亨特的业务。
第一次是与亨特、乔·拜登和一些外国商人的“生日晚宴”:“我不记得谈话内容了。阿彻说:“我只记得(乔·拜登)来吃晚饭，我们边吃边聊，我想是关于世界和天气的话题，然后大家都离开了。”。第二次晚宴有乔·拜登、亨特、亨特的一位同事、一位希腊东正教牧师和世界粮食计划署的人参加:“我想我们应该谈谈世界粮食计划署。因此，有一些谈论，”阿彻作证说。
至于阿彻所说的亨特·拜登收到的一辆保时捷，据阿彻说，那是“哈萨克斯坦一位著名的商人”给他买的。阿彻作证说，他不知道这位商人为什么给亨特·拜登买车。
这些发现很多都不是新的。一份2020年的参议院报告详细介绍了这些商业努力和支付。这份由拜登的批评者、共和党参议员查克·格拉斯利和罗恩·约翰逊撰写的报告发现，亨特·拜登的海外商业冒险对美国官员来说是“尴尬的”，有时是“有问题的”，但没有提供证据，也没有发现政府政策因此被改变的例子。
指控:联邦调查局信息称向拜登行贿百万美元
“一个非常可靠的联邦调查局消息来源称，乔·拜登收到了500万美元，作为交换，他向一名乌克兰检察官施加压力，要求解雇这名检察官，这名检察官正在调查乌克兰天然气公司Burisma，亨特·拜登是该公司的董事会成员，”纽约州共和党众议员埃利斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)本月早些时候说。
格拉斯利在7月发布了一份未经证实的联邦调查局秘密线人的声明，称多年前，拜登家族“逼迫”一名乌克兰寡头向他们支付1000万美元。FD-1023表格引用了一位未透露姓名的消息人士的话，他讲述了2015年和2016年与Burisma首席执行官Mykola Zlochevsky的一系列互动。消息来源回忆说，兹洛切夫斯基声称，他“被迫”向乔和亨特·拜登各支付500万美元，显然是为了换取解雇一位名叫维克托·肖金的乌克兰检察官，据称他当时正在调查布里斯马。
除了未经证实的FD-1023，没有证据表明乔·拜登接受贿赂以影响美国在乌克兰的政策。民主党人指责格拉斯利有选择地强调未经证实的信息来伤害政治对手。
众议院监督委员会(House Oversight Committee)资深民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金(Jamie Raskin)表示，2020年，特朗普任命的司法部采访了消息人士，调查了消息人士的说法，然后结束了调查。
指控:乔·拜登在电子邮件中使用假名
“乔·拜登在5000多封电子邮件中至少使用了三个假名。我们知道其中一个，他的儿子被复制，用的是假名，与乌克兰有关，”卡莫本月早些时候说。
包括总统在内的高级政府官员在电子邮件中使用假名是很常见的。据公开报道，巴拉克·奥巴马做到了。是比尔·巴尔干的。
亨特·拜登收到的电子邮件包括乔·拜登的官方日程安排。这封邮件包括了副总统日常工作的正常清单，但也提到了在“湖边小屋”过夜的事。一位接近拜登家庭的消息人士说，拜登模仿他的儿子，因为这是博·拜登逝世周年纪念日的周末，副总统希望亨特·拜登和家人在一起。
指控:拜登作为副总统协调亨特在布里斯马的角色
“拜登利用他的官方办公室与亨特·拜登的商业伙伴协调亨特在乌克兰能源公司Burisma中的角色，”麦卡锡在下令调查时表示。
这一指控指的是2015年12月亨特·拜登办公室和白宫之间的电子邮件往来。根据Comer的说法，在交流中，亨特·拜登的商业伙伴Eric Schwerin和副总统当时的通讯人员Kate Bedingfield合作回答了媒体关于亨特·拜登被任命为Burisma董事会成员的问题。
贝丁菲尔德写道，“副总裁签署了这一点”——并向施韦林提交了一份声明，她“将很快以我的名义交给两位记者。”声明说，亨特·拜登“是一个普通公民”，乔·拜登“不支持任何特定的公司，也与这家公司没有任何关系。”
在9月6日的一条推文中，白宫发言人伊恩·萨姆斯写道:“更多的谎言来自@詹姆斯·科莫。正如卡莫所说，当时的副总统拜登通过以下方式与该公司“勾结”...说他不支持也没有参与其中?完全是胡说八道。”
指控:DOJ让拜登摆脱困境
“总统的家人受到了拜登政府的特殊对待。如果他们不是总统的亲戚，就不会得到这样的待遇，”麦卡锡声称。
这一指控在很大程度上依赖于两名国税局举报者的证词，他们指控司法部高级官员放慢调查速度，阻碍调查人员追查线索的努力，以及未能依法最大限度地起诉亨特·拜登。
但是司法部长梅里克·加兰和特别检察官魏红星都否认了这些告密者的指控。其他证人与国会分享了证词，削弱了国税局代理人的一些核心主张。
指控:拜登家族通过20家空壳公司收受2000万美元
“详细的银行记录显示，拜登家族及其商业伙伴从俄罗斯、中国、乌克兰和罗马尼亚等地的外国行为者那里收到了2000万美元的付款，包括乔·拜登担任副总统期间的付款，”众议员埃莉斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)本月早些时候说。
亨特·拜登承认从海外商业活动中获得了数百万美元，通常是投资给有多个合作伙伴的公司。这些公司的结构和受益者是不透明的——也许是故意的。但商业实体出于战略和税务相关原因利用空壳公司并不罕见——这是合法的。亨特·拜登收到的钱没有一笔与乔·拜登本人有关。
指控:银行标记了拜登的150多项可疑活动
麦卡锡说:“仅财政部就有超过150宗涉及拜登家族和其他商业伙伴的交易被美国银行标记为可疑活动。”
可疑活动报告是金融机构向财政部提交的报告，旨在标记可疑的银行交易，但不构成犯罪指控。这些基本上是异常活动的通知，调查人员可以将其用作提示或线索，而不是对不法行为或犯罪活动的实际指控，银行需要提交这些通知，以帮助美国政府监控可能的洗钱活动。
这些基本上是异常活动的通知，调查人员可以将其用作提示或线索，而不是对不法行为或犯罪活动的实际指控。
拜登说过的话
当共和党在2020年竞选期间对亨特·拜登的审查增加时，拜登开始被问及他儿子的行为。
2019年7月，拜登在爱荷华州停留期间表示:“我从未和我儿子谈过他的海外业务往来。”。后来，在2019年10月的一场民主党辩论中，拜登表示，他的儿子没有做错任何事。
“听着，我儿子没做错什么。我没有做错任何事，”他在台上说。“我执行了美国政府根除乌克兰腐败的政策。这才是我们应该关注的。我想说的是——我儿子的陈述不言自明。他今天谈到了这件事。我儿子的陈述不言自明。”
去年12月，联邦政府对亨特·拜登的调查公开后，拜登总统表示，他为自己的儿子感到“骄傲”，并“相信”他没有做错任何事。
关于弹劾调查，拜登认为这是一种干扰。
“现在，我只能说他们想弹劾我，因为他们想关闭政府，”他在调查启动后的第二天闭门告诉一群捐助者。“每个人总是问关于弹劾的问题。我每天起床不是为了弹劾，我有工作要做。我每天都要处理影响美国人民的问题。”
“祝你好运，”他后来在被问及调查时说道。
What to know about Republican allegations, evidence in the Biden impeachment inquiry
House Republicans on Thursday, in theirfirst impeachment inquiry hearing, are set to reexamine information they say they've gathered so far in their investigations into PresidentJoe Bidenand his family's business dealings.
"House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said when ordering the inquiry earlier this month. "These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption."
Among their claims, which have yet to be supported by direct evidence, is that President Biden was involved in or personally profited from his family's foreign business dealings, or that he improperly influenced policy based on them during his time as vice president.
Here's a closer look at some of the specific allegations levied against President Biden that are likely to be discussed during Thursday's hearing, and what Biden himself has said about his son's business dealings and the impeachment inquiry.
Allegation: Biden lied about his family's business dealings
Speaker McCarthy and other top Republicans have claimed Biden lied to the public about his knowledge of his family's business deals.
They highlight specific statements from Biden that he "never discussed" with his son or brother anything involving their businesses, and that his son never made money in China.
Biden's statement in regard to China is not true. Hunter Biden has testified in open court that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chinese business interests.
Whether he "never discussed" business with his son is less clear. Hunter Biden's former business partner Devon Archer testified that Joe Biden attended at least two dinners with Hunter Biden's foreign business associates, and frequently spoke with his son over the phone while his son was in the presence of foreign business associates.
But Archer also testified that business never came up during those interactions. Those discussions were often about the weather and other benign subjects, he said. Archer, notably, testified that he never witnessed Joe Biden engage in any wrongdoing.
Hunter Biden also acknowledged at least one instance in which Joe Biden addressed his appointment to the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma: "Dad said, 'I hope you know what you are doing,' and I said, 'I do,'" Hunter Biden told the New Yorker.
Allegation: Biden joined phone calls, meetings about Hunter's business
"Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions – dinners, resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his son's and his son's business partners," McCarthy said when launching the impeachment inquiry.
Such statements appear largely based on Archer's testimony.
Archer testified that as many as 20 times, he saw Hunter put his father on speakerphone when Hunter was with business associates. But he said those conversations often stemmed from Hunter speaking to his father "every day" and that he never witnessed Hunter talking with his dad about the substance of Hunter's business.
Archer also testified about two different dinners that Joe Biden attended, but never indicated that Hunter's business was discussed.
The first was "a birthday dinner" with Hunter, Joe Biden and some foreign businesspeople: "I don't remember the conversation. I just remember that [Joe Biden] came to dinner, and we ate and kind of talked about the world, I guess, and the weather, and then everybody left," Archer said. The second dinner involved Joe Biden, Hunter, one of Hunter's Burisma colleagues, a Greek orthodox priest, and someone from the World Food Programme: "I think we were supposed to talk about the World Food Programme. So, there was some talk about that," Archer testified.
As for a Porsche Archer said Hunter Biden received, it was bought for him by "a prominent businessman in Kazakhstan," according to Archer. Archer testified that he didn't know why the businessman bought the car for Hunter Biden.
Many of these findings not new. A 2020 Senate report detailed some of these business endeavors and payments. The report, penned by Biden critics, GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, found that Hunter Biden's overseas business ventures were "awkward" and at times "problematic" for U.S. officials but provided no evidence and found no instance of government policy being altered as a result.
Allegation: FBI information alleged million-dollar bribe to Bidens
"A highly credible FBI source alleges that Joe Biden received $5 million in exchange for pressuring for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian natural gas firm that Hunter Biden was on the board of, Burisma," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said earlier this month.
Grassley in July released a confidential FBI informant's unverified claim that, years ago, the Biden family "pushed" a Ukrainian oligarch to pay them $10 million. The FD-1023 form cites an unnamed source who recounts a series of interactions in 2015 and 2016 with Mykola Zlochevsky, the chief executive of Burisma. The source recalled Zlochevsky claiming that he was "forced" to pay Joe and Hunter Biden $5 million each, apparently in exchange for firing a Ukrainian prosecutor named Viktor Shokin who was purportedly investigating Burisma at the time.
There is no evidence aside from the unverified FD-1023 that Joe Biden accepted a bribe to influence U.S. policy in Ukraine. Democrats have accused accusing Grassley of selectively highlighting uncorroborated information to hurt a political opponent.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has said that in 2020, the Trump-appointed Justice Department interviewed the source, investigated the source's claims and then closed the investigation.
Allegation: Joe Biden used pseudonyms on emails
"Joe Biden used at least three pseudonyms on over 5,000 emails. We know one of these, his son was copied on, in a pseudonym, that pertained to Ukraine," Comer said earlier this month.
It is common for high-profile government officials, including presidents, to use pseudonyms for their email. It's been publicly reported that Barack Obama did it. And that Bill Barr did it.
The email Hunter Biden was copied on included Joe Biden's official schedule. The email included the normal list of the vice president's daily workload, but also included a reference to an overnight stay at the "Lake House." A source close to the Biden family said Biden copied his son because it was the weekend of the anniversary of Beau Biden's death, and the vice president wanted Hunter Biden to be there with the family.
Allegation: Biden as vice president coordinated Hunter's role in Burisma
"Biden used his official office to coordinate with Hunter Biden's business partners about Hunter's role in Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company," McCarthy said when ordering the inquiry.
This allegation refers to a December 2015 email exchange between Hunter Biden's office and the White House. In the exchange, according to Comer, Hunter Biden's business partner Eric Schwerin and the vice president's then-communications staffer Kate Bedingfield collaborate on a response to questions from the media about Hunter Biden's appointment to the board of Burisma.
Bedingfield writes, "VP signed off on this" – and presents Schwerin with a statement she "will give to both reporters in my name shortly." The statement said that Hunter Biden "is a private citizen," and that Joe Biden "does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company."
In a tweet on Sept. 6, White House spokesperson Ian Sams wrote: "More lies by @JamesComer. As Comer tells it, then-VP Biden 'colluded' with this business by ... saying he doesn't endorse it and wasn't involved with it? Total nonsense."
Allegation: DOJ is letting Bidens off the hook
"The president's family has been offered special treatment by Biden's own administration. Treatment that they would not have otherwise received if they were not related to the president," McCarthy has claimed.
This allegation rests heavily on the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers who accused senior Justice Department officials of slow-walking their investigation, stymying investigators' efforts to pursue leads, and failing to prosecute Hunter Biden to the fullest extent of the law.
But Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss have both denied the allegations made by those whistleblowers. Other witnesses have shared testimony with Congress that undercuts some of the IRS agents' core claims.
Allegation: Biden family received $20 million through 20 shell companies
"Detailed banking records show that the Biden family and their business associates received $20 million in payments from foreign actors in places like Russia, China, Ukraine, and Romania, including payments during Joe Biden's time as vice president," Rep. Elise Stefanik said earlier this month.
Hunter Biden has acknowledged receiving millions of dollars from overseas business endeavors, often into companies with multiple partners. The structure of those companies and the beneficiaries are opaque -- perhaps deliberately. But it is not uncommon for business entities to use shell companies for strategic and tax-related reasons -- which is legal. And none of the money received by Hunter Biden has been linked to Joe Biden himself.
Allegation: Banks flagged 150+ suspicious activities from Bidens
"The Treasury Department alone has more than 150 transactions involving the Biden family and other business associates that were flagged as suspicious activity by U.S. banks," McCarthy has said.
Suspicious Activities Reports, or SARs, are reports filed by financial institutions to flag questionable banking transactions to the Treasury Department, but do not amount to allegations of crimes. These are essentially notices of unusual activity that investigators can use as tips or leads -- not actual allegations of wrongdoing or criminal activity, and banks are required to file them to help the U.S. government monitor possible money laundering activities.
These are essentially notices of unusual activity that investigators can use as tips or leads -- not actual allegations of wrongdoing or criminal activity.
What Biden has said
When Republican scrutiny into Hunter Biden grew during the 2020 campaign, Biden began to be asked about his son's actions.
"I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings," Biden said during a stop in Iowa in July 2019. Later, during a Democratic debate in October 2019, Biden said his son had done nothing wrong.
"Look, my son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong," he said on stage. "I carried out the policy of the United States government in rooting out corruption in Ukraine. And that's what we should be focusing on. And what I wanted to make a point about -- and my son's statement speaks for itself. He spoke about it today. My son's statement speaks for itself."
After the federal investigation into Hunter Biden became public last December, President Biden said is "proud" of his son and "confident" he did nothing wrong.
On the impeachment inquiry, Biden has brushed it off as a distraction.
"Now, best I can tell they want to impeach me because they want shutdown the government," he told a group of donors behind closed doors the day after the inquiry was launched. "Everybody always asked about impeachment. I get up every day not focused on impeachment, I've got job to do. I've got to deal with issues that affect the American people every single solitary day."
"Lots of luck," he later said when asked about the inquiry.
