Poll: Majority of Americans Support Probe of Biden and Son’s Ukraine, China Dealings

Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden greets guests at the Polk County Democrats' Steak Fry in Des Moines, Iowa on Sept. 21, 2019. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Fifty-seven percent of respondents in a new poll said they support a Justice Department probe into former Vice President Joe Biden’s and son Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine and China.

Only 37 percent said they were against investigating the two, according to a poll by Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP that was published on Oct. 4.

“Republicans are pointing the finger at the former vice president, whose son Hunter was being paid $50,000 per month at the time for serving on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. The owner of the company had previously been under investigation,” the pollster wrote. “The appearance isn’t great for Biden, who had been known through his career for his working-class roots and commuting via Amtrak.”

Hunter Biden has been a board member on the BHR Equity Investment Fund Management Company, a Chinese state-backed private equity firm, since 2013, according to the New York Times.

His lawyer, George Mesires, told the paper that he was never paid and never profited financially since buying up 10 percent of the firm.

“He has not been compensated for being on the board of directors, nor has he received any return on his investment to date,” Mesires said, adding that “there have been no distributions to the shareholders since Hunter has been an equity owner” despite BHR being involved in a number of business deals.

The poll also showed that amid the push to impeach President Donald Trump—leading to the White House to release a transcript of a phone call of him and the Ukranian president—8 percent said they are more likely to vote for Biden while 23 percent said they were more likely to vote against him.

Former Vice President Joe Biden (L) and his son Hunter Biden at the Duke Georgetown NCAA college basketball game in Washington on Jan. 30, 2010. Nick Wass/AP Photo

Last month, House Democrats said they would open an impeachment investigation into Trump after a whistleblower complaint alleged that Trump abused his power by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden and claimed it would violate campaign finance laws since Biden is a potential 2020 opponent. Trump has frequently and vehemently denied the allegations, saying they’re tantamount to a “witch hunt.”

The transcript also showed that Trump had asked Zelensky to probe Crowdstrike, a technology company that was hired by the Democratic National Committee, and look into Biden’s dealings with Ukraine while he was in office.

President Donald Trump invites actor and comedian Terrance Williams to speak during an event for the Young Black Leadership Summit in the East Room of the White House on Oct. 4, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Inquiry Progress

On Monday, House Democrats issued subpoenas for the chiefs of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget for documents related to a decision to withhold aid to Ukraine.

Three House committee chairmen asked for the documents to be provided by Oct. 15.

“The enclosed subpoena demands documents that are necessary for the committees to examine this sequence of these events and the reasons behind the White House’s decision to withhold critical military assistance to Ukraine that was appropriated by Congress to counter Russian aggression,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) wrote, according to The Hill.

The TIPP poll was carried out between Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, surveying 900 adults and has a 3.3-point margin of error.