'I Just Answered the Question': Jean-Pierre on Hunter Biden's 'Sitting Here With My Father' Message (June 23, 2023)

On Thursday, June 22, 2023, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who said the Justice Department, FBI and IRS had interfered with the tax investigation of Hunter Biden. One of them, IRS supervisory special agent Gary Shapley, said the IRS had obtained a WhatsApp message dated July 30, 2017, from Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao, chief executive of Harvest Fund Management, that read in part: “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled” [2]. That evening, Hunter Biden attended the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi [2]. At the next day’s briefing, reporters pressed Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on whether President Biden had been involved. This video shows that exchange. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

Key Moments

”I’m just not going to get into family discussion”

A reporter first asked why the president had invited his son to the state dinner. “I — I’m just not going to get into family discussion — personal family discussion. As you know, Hunter is his son,” Jean-Pierre said. Pressed on whether Biden would have invited anyone else who had “just reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors two — days earlier,” she said: “It is not uncommon for family members to attend events at the White House. We could look at past presidents; I’m sure you have” [1].

”My colleague at the White House Counsel has answered this question”

Another reporter noted that John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman who had taken questions earlier in the briefing, would not answer a question about the message, and asked whether the president had been “involved, as this message seems to suggest, in some sort of a coercive conversation for business dealings by his son.” “I believe my colleague at the White House Counsel has answered this question already, has dealt with this, has made it very clear,” Jean-Pierre said. “I just don’t have anything to share outside of what my colleagues have shared. And so, I would refer you to him and the D- — and the DOJ.” “He hasn’t said anything about the text message,” the reporter replied [1].

”It’s not up to you how I answer the question”

“Was the President involved in the shakedown attempt or no? Can you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” another reporter asked. “I just — I just answered the question,” she said, and after several more attempts: “this isn’t — it’s not up to you how I answer the question. I just answered the question by telling you my colleagues at the White House Counsel has dealt with this, and I would refer you to them.” Asked to say from the podium what the counsel’s office had said, she replied: “I would — I would refer you to them, and they will share their statement with all of you” [1].

”Nothing has changed”

A final reporter recalled that she had reaffirmed Biden’s statement from the 2020 campaign “that he never once discussed his son’s overseas business dealings with his son,” and asked whether she stood by it. “What I will say is nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. And I will leave it there,” she said [1].

What the Record Shows

The message. Shapley’s account, as reported by Fox News, included more of the text: Hunter Biden warned Zhao that “between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.” Fox noted that “If the claims made in the message are true, they starkly contradict President Biden’s repeated insistence that he had no knowledge of son Hunter’s business dealings” [2].
Biden’s answer. Five days later, a reporter asked the president: “Were you sitting there? Were you involved?” “No, I wasn’t, and I — no!” Biden said [3].
Hunter Biden’s answer. In a closed-door deposition to House investigators on February 28, 2024, Hunter Biden said: “My father had no awareness of the business that I was doing.” He attributed the message to his addiction, saying he “was drunk and probably high” when he “sent … this ridiculous message to a Zhao, to a Henry Zhao,” and he added, “if I did send this message” [4].
Jean-Pierre’s answer. She did not say whether the president had been involved; she referred reporters to the White House Counsel’s Office and the Justice Department [1].

What Happened Next

Referrals: On June 5, 2024, the Republican chairmen of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees referred Hunter Biden and James Biden to the Justice Department for possible charges of making false statements to Congress, CBS News reported. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, called the investigation a “spectacular failure” [5].
The cases: Hunter Biden was convicted by a Delaware jury of lying on a federal background check form about his addiction when he bought a gun in 2018, and he pleaded guilty to failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes, NPR reported [6].
The pardon: On December 1, 2024, President Biden issued a statement that began, “Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter” [7]. The full and unconditional pardon covered offenses committed or possibly committed from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024, including both cases brought by special counsel David Weiss [6]. Jean-Pierre had repeatedly said Biden would not pardon his son (see our article on her statements that proved wrong).