George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said a House Democrat “tripped the wire” on President Joe Biden during a hearing Wednesday.
The legal expert argued that an exchange between Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and one of the witnesses, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower Gary Shapley, undermined the president’s denial that he ever spoke to his son Hunter about the younger Biden’s business dealings.
Goldman pointed to a moment in Shapley’s prior testimony in which he quoted Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker informing the FBI that Hunter Biden told his father at a lunch meeting with executives at the Chinese energy firm CEFC, “I may be trying to start a company or try to do something with these guys.”
“Now, let me ask you something,” Goldman said. “That doesn’t sound much like Joe Biden was involved in whatever Hunter Biden was doing with the CEFC, if Hunter Biden is telling him that he’s trying to do business with them, does it?”
Goldman: So you not only have no direct evidence connecting Joe Biden to any of Hunter Biden’s business deal. You actually had proof that he wasn’t involved. That is the proof that you had. pic.twitter.com/GYyYhlQDDb
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 19, 2023
In response, Shapley said, “No but it does show that he told his father that he was trying to do business and he was talking to his father about the business.”
At that moment, Goldman threw his hands into the air and said, “Okay, well that is true. Hunter Biden does try to do business. That’s correct.”
On Twitter, Turley said Goldman “just tripped the wire on Joe Biden,” adding, “In trying to grill the whistleblowers to show that there is no evidence that Joe Biden was involved, he elicited an answer that the witnesses established that Joe Biden did discuss business deals of Hunter with the Chinese.”
“Goldman was trying to show that the witnesses did not mention a substantive role of Joe Biden, Shapley immediately noted that it did mean that he came to discuss one of the Hunter’s deals. The President continues to deny that fact,” he added.
