Eric Schwerin, business associate of Hunter Biden never noticed an alleged $40,000 loan from President Biden to his younger brother James — despite having access to the now-president’s checking and business accounts as an accountant and tax preparer, a congressional interview transcription broadcasts published Monday.
Schwerin, 54, said in the Jan. 30 deposition to House investigators that “I don’t recall” Joe Biden lending money between 2009 and 2016, during which Schwerin assisted the then vice president in preparing tax and financial reporting forms. .
“Certainly in the 2016 fiscal year, I don’t remember any loans that he made,” said Schwerin, who added that he “potentially” didn’t see any loans made by Biden in 2017, when Schwerin “was still helping (Biden) with his household finances…while he was becoming a private citizen.
James Biden and his wife Sara wrote a $40,000 check to Joe on September 3, 2017, after James and Hunter received $5.1 million from Chinese state-linked energy company CEFC, the first brother. confirmed to House committees in a Feb. 21 deposition. The check was marked as a “loan repayment” from a July 28, 2017 bank transfer.
Schwerin noted in his interview that he had “some access” to Biden’s business account after his vice presidency, which he gave up “toward the end of 2017, when I stopped that role with him.” .
James Biden also wrote a $200,000 “loan repayment” check to Joe Biden on March 1, 2018. The same day, the same amount in the form of a loan was wired to James from the rural hospital chain today now defunct Americore, for which he was looking for Qatari investors.
James Biden told House committees that there were no records commemorating either “loan” and that his brother did not charge him interest. The second transfer of $200,000 to James Biden took place on January 12, 2018.
At when ‘loan repayments’ were first revealed in November, White House Counsel Office spokesman Ian Sams said: “The president, when he was a private citizen, loaned his brother money, and his brother quickly refunded. Oversight Committee Chairman (James) Comer (R-Ky.) is covering up these records as part of his politically motivated efforts to attack the President with baseless lies.
James Biden further claimed that he requested the money from Joe’s account to pay “unpaid bills” through the Wilmington, Del.-based law firm Monzack Mersky and Browder. – and that he did not know if the money came from the personal bank of the current president. or Joe Biden’s so-called “S-corporation” CelticCapri, which received money for its speeches and writings.
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), former Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue from 2011 to 2015, has since asked the IRS to investigate “the legitimacy of the alleged loan,” which would be considered ordinary income if it was not marked as loan repayment or gift on Biden’s 2017 and 2018 tax returns.
The House Oversight and Judiciary committees released the transcript of the closed-door interview two days before former Hunter associates Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis appear for a public hearing as the committees continue a probe into impeachment against the president.
Another former business partner of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, will not appear after an earlier letter requesting his presence was apparently never received, leaving him insufficient time to prepare a written statement and plan testimony later, according to a letter from his lawyer to Oversight. panel, which was reviewed by The Post.
In his deposition, Schwerin also said he couldn’t “remember” or didn’t “know” dozens of times — and denied having detailed knowledge of the millions of dollars the first son received of foreign associates in 2007. ChinaKazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.
Hunter Biden and some of his former business partners have already testified before House committees that the president spoke on the phone and met with his foreign associates during and after his time in the Obama White House.
Joe Biden asked Schwerin for his help “as a favor,” the witness said, adding that he received no money for his service and never saw Biden take any official steps to advance his son’s business or grant him “political favors”.
This is particularly the case in Ukraine, where Joe Biden pushed for the dismissal of prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
Shokin, who was fired in March 2016, was investigating Burisma Holdings, a natural gas company on whose board Hunter Biden served from 2014 to 2019, earning an annual salary of about $1 million.
Hunter Biden’s former partner, Devon Archer, in an interview after his House testimony last summer, said Shokin had been considered a “threat» to Burisma after seizing part of the property of its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky.
Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees in exchange for Shokin’s ouster in late 2015, he boasted three years later at a Council on Foreign Relations panel, but Schwerin refused to say whether this decision posed an “ethical dilemma”.
“I didn’t think about it at the time, no,” he said.
However, Schwerin confirmed during his testimony that Joe Biden exchanged emails with Hunter associates from private accounts titled “Robinware456” and “Robert.L.Peters.” However, Schwerin was not asked about content of these messages.
While assisting the vice president with his personal finances, Schwerin had also served as president of Hunter’s investment firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners.
In his 2022 memoir, Hunter’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, wrote that Schwerin had “managed almost every aspect of our financial lives, so our relationship was delicate.”
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden promised to have “an absolute wall between personal, private (business), and government,” just as he claimed during his years in the Obama White House .
The Post has contacted the White House and the White House Counsel’s office for comment.
