Hunter Biden’s business partner Eric Schwerin told congressional investigators Tuesday that he had no information about foreign payments received by the Biden family and said he was “unaware” of President Biden’s role in the activities Hunter Biden’s business ventures, sources close to Fox News Digital told Fox News Digital.
Schwerin appeared behind closed doors during a transcribed interview before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees Tuesday as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
In his opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital, Schwerin told the committee that he “performed a number of administrative and accounting tasks for then-Vice President Joe Biden related to the finances of his household” between 2009 and 2017. Schwerin said he also helped Biden. accountants in the preparation of its taxes and annual financial statements.
One of Schwerin’s former business associates told Fox News Digital that Schwerin’s opening statement appeared “coordinated,” adding that the emails and transactions could contradict Schwerin’s “carefully worded” statement when pressed by the House Oversight investigators.
Schwerin’s interview before the committees Tuesday was his first official testimony. He met with House Oversight Committee staff last March.
Eric Schwerin, left, along with President Biden and Hunter Biden (Fox News)
Schwerin said he met Hunter Biden while working in the Clinton administration at the Commerce Department and after his government service joined his first son at a law and lobbying firm.
Schwerin co-founded Rosemont Seneca Partners with Hunter Biden and other colleagues – a company he described as a “consulting and investment firm that provided public policy development and advisory services to a wide range of clients “.
HUNTER BIDEN PAID JOE BIDEN FROM AN ACCOUNT FOR A COMPANY THAT RECEIVED PAYMENTS FROM CHINA: COMER
“In the course of carrying out these duties, I had the opportunity to view transactions in and out of Vice President Biden’s bank accounts while he served as vice president,” Schwerin said in his speech. ‘opening. “Based on this information, I am not aware of any financial transactions or compensation that Vice President Biden received related to the business conducted by any of his family members or their associates, nor of any involvement of his share in their businesses. None.”
Schwerin also said he “does not recall any request to Vice President Biden to take any official action on behalf of any of Hunter’s clients or business deals – foreign or domestic.”
“In fact, I am not aware of any role that Vice President Biden, as a public official or private citizen, played in Hunter’s business activities. None,” he said.
Schwerin testified that regarding his interactions with Biden, he “never asked him to take any official action for the benefit of Hunter’s clients or any other clients.”
“Furthermore, I have no recollection of any promises or suggestions made by Hunter or myself to any clients or associates that his father would take any official action on their behalf. None,” he said. “In my discussions with the Vice President regarding his personal finances, he has always been very clear about his desire to take the most transparent and ethical approach, consistent with both the spirit and the letter of the law.”
President Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 10, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Schwerin added: “Given my knowledge of his finances and the explicit instructions he gave to his financial advisors, the allegation that he engaged in inappropriate conduct for his own benefit or that of his family appears to me absurd.”
A source familiar with the testimony told Fox News Digital that Schwerin’s opening statement was “very narrowly tailored and does not cover the vast majority of questions about his knowledge and involvement in the Biden family’s business plans that the Committee is seeking information on.” information today.”
Despite his work for and with Biden, Schwerin said he had “no visibility into major foreign payments to the Bidens,” according to the source familiar with the closed-door testimony.
BIDEN WAS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH HUNTER’S BUSINESS PARTNERS USING EMAIL ALIAS AS VP
“When Eric Schwerin made statements about Hunter Biden’s financial dealings, during today’s interview he admitted that he had no idea about payments from Chinese, Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh entities and individuals and Romanians,” the source told Fox News Digital.
Schwerin’s testimony comes after Fox News Digital first reported that Joe Biden, as vice president, used email aliases and private email addresses to communicate with Hunter Biden and his associates of the hundreds of times – including with Schwerin. The communications took place between 2010 and 2019, with the majority of email traffic occurring while Biden was vice president.
President Biden speaks during an event at the Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wisconsin, Thursday, January 25, 2024. (Nicole Neri/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The House Ways and Means Committee, which is co-leading the impeachment inquiry alongside the Oversight and Judiciary committees, said 54 of those emails were “exclusively” between Joe Biden and Schwerin. The Ways and Means Committee describes Schwerin as “the architect of the Biden family front companies.”
Meanwhile, data shows that direct emails between Schwerin and then-Vice President Biden increased when the vice president was visiting Ukraine.
The committee said data shows Joe Biden and Schwerin exchanged five emails in June 2014 before the vice president’s trip to Ukraine that month.
After that trip and before Biden’s return trip to Ukraine in November 2014, he and Schwerin sent 27 emails.
Hunter Biden joined the board of directors of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings in April 2014.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Biden acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings. During the same period, Hunter Biden held a very lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month.
At the time, the vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
Biden allies maintain the vice president pushed for Shokin’s firing over concerns about the Ukrainian prosecutor was soft on corruption and said his dismissal was the political position of the United States and the international community.
