Eric Schwerin, an associate of President Joe Biden and his family, appears to have confirmed allegations that the president and several of his family members relied on aliases and personal email accounts to communicate amongst themselves during his term as vice president.
In a transcribed interview conducted on Jan. 30 and released on Monday, Mr. Schwerin identified President Biden as the person behind at least two email aliases that were active between 2009 and 2017 during his time as vice president during the Obama administration. Mr. Schwerin’s testimony provides an added layer of confirmation to allegations Republican investigators have raised for months, that the president and his family concealed their communications through various assumed names.
During the Jan. 30 interview, an investigator asked Mr. Schwerin whether an email account owner identified as “Robinware456” had any relation to President Biden. “Yes,” Mr. Schwerin said.
“That’s Joe Biden?” the investigator asked, to which Mr. Schwerin replied, “Correct.”
The same investigator then asked about another suspected alias name, “Hurricane5155.” Mr. Schwerin replied that he believed that account was operated by President Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden.
Mr. Schwerin identified the alias “261penn” as the account of President Biden’s eldest son, Beau Biden.
The investigator then asked about another account name, “Robert.L.Peters.” Mr. Schwerin replied that it was his understanding this account also belonged to then-Vice President Biden.
“I never used that email, so I don’t know, but that’s my understanding from later on,” Mr. Schwerin said, when asked about the “RobertL.Peters” persona.
Mr. Schwerin said he primarily communicated with President Biden through the “Robinware” persona.
House investigators have previously uncovered more than 260 email communications in which “Robinware456” was either the sender or a recipient. “RobertL.Peters” was a recipient of at least 26 additional email communications uncovered by House investigators. The “Hurricane5155” and “261penn” personas appeared in hundreds of additional email chains involving White House staff accounts.
These covert communications have been a point of focus for Republicans leading an ongoing impeachment inquiry into whether President Biden engaged in influence peddling with his family members throughout his political career.
Schwerin Denies Knowledge of Influence Peddling
Mr. Schwerin testified that he became acquainted with the Biden family while working at the U.S. Commerce Department during the Clinton administration, during which time he met with then-Senator Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. After leaving this government position, Mr. Schwerin said he joined Hunter Biden at a law and lobbying firm and later co-founded the firm Rosemont Seneca Partners with Hunter Biden.Between 2009 and 2017, Mr. Schwerin testified that he performed “a number of administrative and bookkeeping tasks” for then-Vice President Biden, pertaining to his household finances.
“In the course of performing these duties, I had the ability to view transactions both into and out of Vice President Biden’s bank accounts while he was Vice President,” Mr. Schwerin said in his opening statement during the Jan. 30 interview. “Based on that insight, I am not aware of any financial transactions or compensation that Vice President Biden received related to business conducted by any of his family members or their associates, nor any involvement by him in their businesses.”
In his opening statement, Mr. Schwerin further denied any knowledge of President Biden taking any official action to benefit his family members.
“I cannot recall any requests for Vice President Biden to take any official action on behalf of any of Hunter’s clients or his business deals, foreign or domestic,” Mr. Schwerin said.
He said that throughout his interactions with then-Vice President Biden, the elder Biden was “always crystal-clear that he wanted to take the most transparent and ethical approach.”
Mr. Schwerin testified that this bookkeeping work he did for then-Vice President Biden was free. He testified that he also expected no favors from the elder Biden for this bookkeeping work, nor did he elicit any favor or witness Hunter Biden elicit any favors.
While performing these free bookkeeping services, Mr. Schwerin was appointed to the U.S. Commission on the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in 2015. He said he believed the role came about following a 2009 conversation with a member of then-Vice President Biden’s staff.
“My assumption was that it was something that, you know, the Vice President had signed off on, but I would think it was someone from the staff who said, we can put your name forward to Presidential Personnel, and they would, you know, give you a call about this,” Mr. Schwerin said.
During the interview, Mr. Schwerin also described working with Devon Archer, a business partner of Hunter Biden, helping connect Mr. Archer with Blue Star Strategies. Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden and Mr. Archer sat, retained Blue Star Strategies for lobbying services at a time when the company was dealing with investigations of its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky.
Mr. Schwerin testified that he had access to Joe Biden’s bank accounts until some point “towards the end of 2017.” He testified that he could not recall having seen records for loans Joe Biden purportedly gave his brother, James Biden, which were purported to have been repaid in September 2017 and March 2018.
