Biden: Son’s Email Leak Is a ‘Smear Campaign,’ Again Says It’s Russian Disinformation

Then-vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend an NCAA basketball game between Georgetown University and Duke University in Washington on Jan. 30, 2010. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Oct. 25 again responded to recent reports about his son Hunter’s business dealings in China, Ukraine, and other countries, asserting they’re part of a “smear campaign” meant to damage his chances of being elected.

Biden said the reports, which are based on emails and photos that were sourced from a laptop hard drive that allegedly belonged to his son, are part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the top GOP member on the House Judiciary Committee, have both stated the emails and reports aren’t disinformation.

“From what I’ve read and know, the intelligence community warned the president that Giuliani was being fed disinformation from the Russians,” Biden told CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” referring to Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer.

Giuliani released information found on the hard drive to the New York Post earlier this month, which reported that Hunter Biden may have attempted to arrange a meeting between an official at Ukrainian gas firm Burisma Holdings, of which Hunter sat on the board, and his father while he was vice president. Biden’s campaign denied a meeting ever took place.

“We also know that Putin is trying very hard to spread disinformation about Joe Biden. And so when you put the combination of Russia, Giuliani, [and] the president together—it’s just what it is,” Biden said. “It’s a smear campaign, because he has nothing he wants to talk about.”

Biden didn’t say whether the emails or other laptop materials were authentic or not. His campaign and other Democratic allies haven’t disputed them.

Tony Bobulinski, who claims to have been an associate of Hunter Biden, speaks to reporters at a hotel in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 22, 2020. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden campaign told Fox News on Oct. 25 that he “never had a meeting” with Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi in April 2015 in Washington. Pozharskyi’s alleged email to Hunter Biden read: “Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” according to the Post.

The former vice president has repeatedly denied that he knew anything about his son’s business dealings. Meanwhile, he said over the weekend that he is “running against Donald Trump, not his children” in an attempt to characterize Hunter Biden’s business as an unrelated issue. However, conservative critics have asserted that Hunter’s alleged emails and photos could be used to blackmail or compromise Biden if he wins the presidency, constituting a potential national security threat.

During the final debate on Oct. 22, President Donald Trump brought up the emails, saying that Biden and his family, including his son and brother Robert, profited off his name and influence while he was vice president.

Tony Bobulinski, whose name and email appear in the recipient list of an email purportedly shared among the Bidens and others, told The Epoch Times that there was a deal outlined between Chinese energy firm CEFC and the Biden family. He said he had been sent a copy of the email published last week by the Post, which detailed proposed payout packages and equity shares. Hunter Biden and his associates brought him into the deal to serve as the CEO of SinoHawk LLC, a business entity created to formalize the Biden-CEFC investment partnership, Bobulinski said, adding that the family introduced him to Joe Biden and discussed plans for a partnership with a Chinese energy firm.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, suggested last week that the trove of emails is authentic.

“What I can say about all of those sources, we’re continuing to do our due diligence to verify and authenticate the genuineness of those emails,” Johnson told The Epoch Times. “And to date, we have found nothing that disputes them. All we’ve found is verification, validation of their authenticity.”

The Epoch Times hasn’t been able to independently authenticate the emails and materials.