“I have never spoken to my son about his business”

In August 2019 Biden said: “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.” He has said similar things many times since. [1]

The record of contact is substantial. Archer testified that Hunter put his father on speakerphone with associates about 20 times over a decade and that Joe attended two dinners at Café Milano with Hunter’s foreign contacts, in 2014 and 2015. Joe met Bobulinski in May 2017. Rob Walker testified that Joe stopped by a meeting with CEFC’s chairman at a Washington hotel in 2017. [2][3][4][5]

Archer said the calls were “casual conversation,” niceties about the weather. He said he never heard Joe discuss business. FactCheck.org’s review concluded Republicans oversold the testimony, while Archer himself said “the brand” was the value Hunter brought. Hunter’s own words under oath: “My father never benefited from any of the business that I was doing.” [2][3][4]

The Bidens’ tax returns, released in July 2019, showed adjusted gross income of $11.04 million in 2017 and $4.58 million in 2018, mostly from book deals and speeches, much of it paid through two S corporations, CelticCapri Corp. and Giacoppa Corp. Their 2019 income fell to $985,233. [1][2][3]

Nothing in the returns shows income from Hunter’s or James’s foreign businesses. [1][3]