Another Biden Family Member Is Coming Before the House Oversight Committee

Rebecca Downs reporting for Townhall 

February is here, and this short month looks to be a busy one for the House Oversight Committee. We learned weeks ago that Hunter Biden will indeed appear for closed-door testimony on February 28, after Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) came to an agreement with his attorney, Abbe Lowell. Before then, though, another Biden relative will be testifying: President Joe Biden's brother, James Biden. 

As the Committee announced on Wednesday, James Biden will be testifying on February 21.

James Biden's name has been referenced in testimony from other witnesses close to the Biden family, including Rob Walker. According to takeaways from that testimony, James Biden had asked to receive payments as part of a deal with a Chinese government-linked entity of CEFC.

As we covered last week:

Walker's name has come up before in investigating the Biden family business dealings with regards to his company, Robinson Walker, LLC. That $3 million payment that was received by the LLC was referenced in a memo from the House Oversight Committee last March, as Townhall covered at the time. The memo explained how over $1 million was then wired to James Gilliar, another family associate. Biden family members, including Hallie Biden and companies associated with Hunter and James Biden, then received payments.

Walker testified that he was told by Hunter Biden to send payments to his sister-in-law and uncle even though they did not work for the CEFC entity. James Biden also wanted part of the entity money even though he wasn't even involved in the deal. The source describes it as "[m]ore evidence that the Bidens’ influence peddling appears to be a Biden family enrichment scheme."

The Committee also shared coverage from The New York Post pointing to a different interest for the first brother, as Joey Langston, a disbarred Mississippi attorney who served time for bribery chargers, shared that he loaned James Biden $800,000, but was only paid back $400,000. The loans, which he said he does not have documentation or a record of, were made in 2016 and 2017, and possibly at other points. 

The report also mentions how James Biden was associated with alleged co-conspirator Mississippi attorney Dickie Scruggs. "Amid the bribery conspiracy, James Biden, who was not charged in the case, was in talks with Scruggs and conspirator Tim Balducci about setting up a law firm that would have employed himself, his nephew Hunter Biden and James’ wife, Sara," the report mentioned. 

Matt also covered the bribery probe into James Biden last month, with the FBI secretly taping him over his DC consulting firm. 

The House Oversight and House Judiciary Committees announced on Thursday that they have also requested Lanette Phillips appear for transcribed testimony.

Phillips' name has come up in testimony from another person connected to the Biden family. Kevin Morris, a friend, "sugar brother," and lawyer to Hunter Biden testified last month that Phillips introduced him to Hunter at a fundraiser event for now President Biden in November 2019. Phillips had also introduced Hunter to art dealer Georges Bergès.