Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has called on President Joe Biden to provide information about a $200,000 check he received from his brother James Biden, which was labeled on the check as a loan repayment.
Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, has been leading the investigation into alleged corrupt business dealings involving the president and his family.
In a letter Thursday to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, Comer requested loan documents and receipts that all applicable IRS filings were properly made.
"If Joe Biden did personally loan James Biden an amount that was later repaid by the $200,000 check, please provide the loan documents, including the loan payment, loan agreement, and any other supporting loan documentation," Comer wrote. "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."
The check, written on March 1, 2018, is the first piece of hard evidence linking Joe Biden to alleged influence-peddling schemes. According to bank records obtained by the Oversight Committee, James Biden issued the check from his personal bank account on the same day he received $200,000 from Americore — a company going through bankruptcy proceedings.
The committee said in a news release James Biden made representations to Americore "that his last name, 'Biden,' could 'open doors' and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections."
"This is a complete lie," wrote White House spokesman Ian Sams in an Oct. 20 post on X. "There was no 'Middle-East-related transaction.' Joe Biden loaned his brother some money. His brother paid it back a few weeks later. Comer and @GOPoversight know this yet they shamelessly smear anyway."
The Oversight Committee said records it obtained showed several large incoming transactions into the personal account of James Biden and Sara Biden, his wife, from various entities, but nothing that states 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," Comer wrote. "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."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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