Testimony From Biden Bookkeeper Challenges James Biden’s ‘Loan Repayment’ Alibi

Jordan Boyd reporting for The Federalist 

Hunter Biden’s former business manager, Eric Schwerin, spent years pouring over Vice President Joe Biden’s finances, but, contrary to James Biden’s claims to House investigators last month, Schwerin never saw a dime of the patriarch’s money get loaned out to his brother.

In a sitdown with House investigators this month documented in a 164-page transcript, Schwerin explained that he assumed an informal role as former Vice President Joe Biden’s bookkeeper, often dealing with the head of the First Family’s Biden’s finances in “tax season and financial disclosure statement time” all the way through 2017.

Despite maintaining years-long easy access to Biden’s monies, Schwerin said he never saw any indication that Biden handed out loans to anyone.

When asked specifically about loans to Biden’s younger brother, Schwerin said he did not “recall” seeing any outgoing transaction to James and Sarah Biden’s bank account. Schwerin’s admission calls into question James’ contradictory testimony last month, in which he claimed the $40,000 CEFC check he sent Joe in 2017 and the $20,000 Americore cash he passed on to his elder brother in 2018 amounted to personal loan repayments.

Despite dropping by the White House at least 30 times for what Schwerin claimed were mostly visits about bills, Hunter’s business associate was not paid for his services. Instead, Schwerin insisted he “looked at it as doing a favor for a friend.”

“So just from an optics standpoint, you’re doing free work for the Vice President doing all his financials. Hunter Biden is your partner in business. You’re overseeing all of his financials. You’re advisors. You’re not lobbyists, but you’re getting all this access to the White House. Isn’t that problematic?” one interviewer pressed.

“I don’t know — a lot of those visits, as far as I’m concerned, were — and remember — were related to helping the Vice President with his finances. So there were times I would go over there and sit down with him, particularly as we — on these annual bases for these meetings, but also, a lot of it was to go pick up these bills,” Schwerin countered

Schwerin may not have received cash compensation for managing Biden’s bank accounts, but he was rewarded in 2015 with a position at the U.S. Commission on the Preservation of America’s Heritage. Schwerin openly attributed his ascent in the agency to the then-Vice President and his staff.

During his testimony, Schwerin also confirmed that Biden used the alias “Robinware456.” The pair often communicated using the “private Gmail account.”

Emails on Hunter’s abandoned laptop indicated Biden used pseudonyms such as “RobinWare456@gmail.com,” “Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov,” “JRB Ware,” and “67stingray” to help him bypass the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of the president and vice president’s incoming and outgoing government-related communications. The private email accounts allowed him to hide his communications, even if they featured official White House business, with his sons, brother, and government officials from scrutiny.