President Joe Biden’s brother received multiple payments from a health care company even though there are no records of him performing any work for the money, a witness in the impeachment inquiry against the president told lawmakers.
“I did not think that he provided services to the debtors,” Ms. Fox added later.
That belief prompted Ms. Fox to sue Mr. Biden in 2022, accusing him of failing to repay loans that Americore gave him.
Mr. Biden, 74, received $600,000 in wire payments from Americore in 2018, according to a settlement agreement he signed. Mr. Biden’s firm, Lion Hall, received several additional payments in 2017 and 2018.
Ms. Fox said she could not find any records for Mr. Biden’s purported work for Americore and also could not find any documents, such as documents outlining what collateral was put up for the loans, regarding the loans outside of bank records.
“There was one thing that said ‘loan,’ and that’s why this was called a loan, is because of the exhibits that were filed with this complaint,” Ms. Fox said.
According to the complaint, the loans were made after Mr. Biden represented “that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.”
Ms. Fox said she did not know where the quoted statements specifically came from but that there are records that explain them, and that she will provide those records to lawmakers in the future.
According to court documents, Mr. Biden did not actually help obtain investment from the Middle East but instead helped Americore obtain “an ill-advised bridge loan from a hedge fund” that negatively impacted Americore, driving it to bankruptcy.
The suit was settled in 2022. The agreement, signed by Mr. Biden, acknowledged the payments but said Mr. Biden and Lion Hall “provided financial and consulting services to Americore and that Americore received reasonably equivalent value for the work and services provided by Biden/Lion Hall.”
Without admitting any liability, Mr. Biden and Lion Hall agreed to pay $350,000 as a settlement payment.
$200,000 Check
One of the payments from Americore to Mr. Biden, a wire transfer of $200,000, came on March 1, 2018. That same day, Mr. Biden wrote a $200,000 check to his brother.Mr. Biden and the White House have acknowledged the payment from Mr. Biden to his brother, which came when President Biden was not in office, but have said the money was to repay a loan.
“James Biden wrote this check to Joe Biden as a ‘loan repayment.’ Americore—a distressed company—loaned money to James Biden who then sent it to Joe Biden,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said previously. “Even if this was a personal loan repayment, it’s still troubling that Joe Biden’s ability to be paid back by his brother depended on the success of his family’s shady financial dealings.”
An attorney for Mr. Biden, Paul Fishman, did not respond to a request for comment on Ms. Fox’s testimony.
“The Oversight Committee’s description of the $200,000 check is highly selective and misleading,” Mr. Fishman previously told news outlets in a statement. “The committee has the bank documents that show both the loan Jim received from his brother in January 2018 and the repayment by check six weeks later. At no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.”
Ms. Fox was questioned after Republicans approved an impeachment inquiry against President Biden for possible wrongdoing related to his involvement with his relatives as they carried out business schemes across multiple countries.
President Biden has said he never interacted with his family’s business associates but Devon Archer, another witness interviewed in the probe—and who used to work closely with Hunter Biden, the president’s son—told members that President Biden spoke with his family’s associates over the phone, and several times in person during meals in Washington.
Mr. James Biden, subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee, is scheduled to answer questions under oath and behind closed doors on Feb. 21. Mr. Hunter Biden, after defying a subpoena, is in negotiations to appear, according to lawmakers.
