White House Doesn’t Dispute Joe Biden Left Voicemail About China Story for Hunter Biden

The White House on July 5 did not dispute President Joe Biden left a voicemail discussing a story about his son’s business dealings with China.

The voicemail, left in 2018 while Joe Biden was not in office, had the Democrat telling his son Hunter Biden that “I think you’re clear” in the story, which was published by the New York Times.

The story detailed Hunter Biden’s dealings with Ye Jianming, a Chinese oil tycoon.

White House Asked for First Time

The voicemail was recovered from a laptop computer that Hunter Biden is said to have left at a repair store in Delaware years ago. Hunter Biden has not denied that he left the laptop there.

Materials published from the computer include images of Hunter Biden, phone calls, and text messages.

The voicemail was released by the Daily Mail in June. The White House was asked about it for the first time on Tuesday.

“Why is there a voicemail of the president talking to his son about his overseas business dealings if the president has said he’s never spoken to his son about his overseas business dealings?” Peter Doocy, a Fox News reporter, asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

“Well, first, I’ll say that what the president said stands. So if that’s what the president said, that is what stands,” Jean-Pierre said.

Joe Biden has said he has never spoken with his son about his son’s business dealings, which have included transactions with individuals and entities in China, Russia, and other countries, including during the time Joe Biden was vice president.

“From this podium, I am not going to talk about alleged materials from the laptop,” Jean-Pierre added.

Pressed on whether she was disputing Joe Biden was speaking in the voicemail, she said: “I am not going to talk about alleged materials on a laptop. It’s not happening.”

She referred reporters to Hunter Biden’s lawyer, who has not responded to requests for comment, including a query sent on Wednesday morning.

Voicemail

The voicemail, 23 seconds long, is from Dec. 12, 2018.

It appears to show Joe Biden leaving his son a message.

“Hey pal, it’s Dad,” the elder Biden says. “It’s 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you get a chance, just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I just wanted to talk to you.”

“I thought the article released online, it’s going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good,” he said. “I think you’re clear. And anyway if you get a chance, give me a call, I love you.”

The story in question reported that Ye and Hunter Biden met privately at a hotel in Miami, Florida in mid-2017. During the meeting, Ye reportedly proposed a business partnership that would focus on investing in American infrastructure.

The story said it remains unclear whether Hunter Biden came to a deal with Ye. But a letter later made public showed that CEFC, the Chinese entity Ye once headed, paid Hunter Biden $1 million to find an attorney for Patrick Ho, a top aide of Ye who was arrested by U.S. authorities in 2017 and sentenced for bribery and money laundering.

Republicans have vowed to renew investigations into Hunter Biden if they flip control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware is already probing the younger Biden over his business deals, and several senators previously issued a report on the dealings.

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Zachary Stieber covers U.S. and world news. He is based in Maryland.