The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner, is seeking clarification from the White House regarding the involvement of Hunter Biden in classified briefings.
This comes as the President's son re-emerges at the Executive Mansion in an attempt to rejuvenate his father's struggling re-election campaign.
According to The New York Post, Turner (R-Ohio) penned a letter to White House chief of staff Jeff Zients on Wednesday. He wrote, "White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has confirmed that Hunter Biden is attending official White House meetings involving the President and his staff. Turner is pressing for an immediate response, requesting details of the official meetings Hunter Biden is partaking in and whether classified information is being disclosed.
Hunter Biden, 54, has been present at White House meetings since his father's return from a family retreat at Camp David on Monday. Insiders have suggested that the first son harbors a mistrust of West Wing aides. Notably, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, senior adviser Anita Dunn, and personal attorney Bob Bauer have been criticized by the first family for overworking President Biden, 81, during debate preparations the previous week.
Despite a shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump, 77, Hunter maintains that his father remains "scrappy and in command of the facts," as reported by the New York Times. However, his presence in the West Wing has been a cause for concern among security personnel for years.
During Biden's first year in office, Secret Service agents were taken aback to learn that Hunter was en route to the highly secure Situation Room. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre justified his presence as part of the preparation for a speech the president was scheduled to deliver on the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. However, Hunter remained at the White House through Wednesday.
In a shocking incident last July, Hunter returned to the White House from a Camp David visit for Independence Day celebrations just hours after cocaine was discovered in a holding area outside the Situation Room.
Hunter's involvement in the White House has been under scrutiny following his admission to a probation-only plea deal for tax and gun crimes in June, which later fell apart. He also involved his father in plans to disregard a congressional subpoena to answer questions about his profitable overseas business dealings.
On June 11, Hunter became a convicted felon after a federal trial found him guilty of three gun charges. He is also facing a potential felony verdict this September for evading $1.4 million in tax payments.
During special counsel Robert Hurs investigation into his father last year, Hunter was interviewed. The investigation found that the elder Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials but the prosecutor declined to bring charges.
As Vice President, Joe Biden communicated with his son and various business associates through a pseudonymous email account. He also interacted with several foreign benefactors from Mexico, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and China. These interactions, coupled with Hunter's access to classified material at Biden's Delaware mansion, form the basis of the ongoing House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into the President.
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