New Schiff leak claim from whistleblower echoes years of similar accusations

Longtime Trump political foe Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff for years has been accused of leaking classified documents — long before the release of a "bombshell" whistleblower testimony claiming the California lawmaker approved leaking classified information in order to discredit the president during the Russiagate probe, Fox News Digital found. 

Schiff, who served in the U.S. House for more than two decades before securing his spot in the U.S. Senate in 2024, is facing heightened scrutiny following FBI Director Kash Patel declassifying claims from a Democrat whistleblower that Schiff approved the release of classified information on Trump that allegedly "would be used to indict President TRUMP," according to the report. 

The whistleblower, who reportedly had worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years, made the claims to the FBI in 2017. Schiff had access to classified information while serving on the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in the lower chamber, including serving as its chair from 2019 to 2023. 

"In this meeting, SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to indict President TRUMP," according to the whistleblower documents.

WHITE HOUSE REACTS TO DEM WHISTLEBLOWER’S ‘BOMBSHELL’ CLAIM SCHIFF LEAKED TO HIT TRUMP

The whistleblower "stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information," the report added.

Schiff has denied the allegations, with his office telling Fox News Digital Aug. 12 that the allegations were "absolutely and categorically false."

But this isn't the first time Schiff has been accused of leaking classified information to the public, with accusations following him since at least the first Trump administration. Fox News Digital took a look back at Schiff's political history in recent years and gathered the times he previously had been accused of leaking classified materials. 

The August declassified whistleblower accusations are "just the latest in a series of defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal," a Schiff spokesperson told Fox Digital when approached for comment on the allegations, after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the whistleblower's account a "bombshell." 

TRUMP-FOE ADAM SCHIFF DISMISSES TULSI GABBARD'S DECLASSIFIED RUSSIA COLLUSION INTELLIGENCE AS 'DISHONEST'

"These baseless smears are based on allegations that were found to be not reliable, not credible, and unsubstantiated from a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017, including for harassment and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the Committee," the spokesperson continued. "Even Trump’s own Justice Department and an independent inspector general found this individual to not be credible, have ‘little support for their contentions’ and was of ‘unknown reliability,’ and concluded that his accusations against Members of Congress and congressional staff ‘were not ultimately substantiated.’" 

Just days after former President Joe Biden was sworn-in as president in January 2021, Trump's former acting director of national intelligence and U.S. ambassador from his first administration Ric Grenell took to X to list out "facts" regarding Schiff. 

"Facts," a Jan. 22, 2021, post on X that is no longer available on the social media site read. The X post received media attention and was preserved in reports at the time, such as the Washington Examiner. 

He listed off: "Schiff wouldn’t return my call to coordinate on DNI reforms. - the reforms were asked for by career officials for years. -Schiff complained when I appointed the 1st female head of counterterrorism (a career person). -Schiff & team regularly leaked classified information."

Grenell's message was in response to Schiff claiming in an interview with The Hill that Grennell and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe under the first Trump administration "bent intelligence work products to the president’s will."

TRUMP INVOKES RUSSIA COLLUSION HOAX WHILE CALLING FOR LONGTIME FOE SCHIFF TO FACE JAIL TIME

"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, probably the most devastated of all of the agencies by terrible leadership of people like Rick Grenell and John Ratcliffe," Schiff said during a video interview at the time. 

Fast-forward to 2023, former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who served under the first Trump administration, also accused Schiff of leaking classified docs. 

"Adam Schiff lied to the American people, and during my time as CIA director and secretary of State, I know that he leaked classified information that had been provided to him," Pompeo said in January 2023 during a Fox News interview.

Pompeo continued that he "held back" sharing information with the House Intelligence Committee due to not feeling "comfortable" when Schiff led the panel. 

A representative for Pompeo told Fox Digital in August that the former Trump official stands by his 2023 comments on Schiff. 

Schiff's office slammed Pompeo's remarks at the time as "another patently false and defamatory statement." 

Trump had also accused Schiff of leaking classified documents under his first administration, claiming in 2018, he was the "one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington."

"Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!" Trump continued wrote in one X thread at the time. 

Schiff shot back at the time that Trump's X post was a "false smear."

"Mr. President, I see you’ve had a busy morning of ‘Executive Time.’ Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or...really anything else," Schiff responded to Trump in February 2018

As Trump railed against the alleged leaks during his first term, reports spread that the Department of Justice subpoenaed Apple for account data of House Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, including Schiff, between 2017 and 2018. The DOJ, which was led by Jeff Sessions at the time, was searching for individuals who leaked to the media about Trump's alleged ties to Russia. 

The investigation dragged, including after Bill Barr was tapped as Trump's attorney general in 2019 through the end of Trump's first term, the New York Times reported in 2021, citing sources familiar with the investigation. 

The Justice Department's internal watchdog, under the Biden administration, opened an investigation into the subpoenas and published a report in 2024 that found the Trump DOJ did not comply with established procedures when it sought the records.

"We are glad that the Department of Justice Inspector General conducted a thorough investigation, and that the Inspector General has recommended safeguards to further protect the media, and to safeguard the separation of powers," a spokesperson for Schiff said following the release of the report, according to Reuters in 2024. 

As the 2020 campaign heated up, Trump continued accusing Schiff and other House Democrats of leaking, with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence at the time scaling back its security briefings with Congress that year as high-profile Democrats promoted concerns that Russia was interfering in that election. 

"Director Ratcliffe brought information into the committee, and the information leaked," Trump said in August 2020. "Whether it was Shifty Schiff or somebody else, they leaked the information. … And what’s even worse, they leaked the wrong information. And he got tired of it. So he wants to do it in a different forum, because you have leakers on the committee."

Schiff denied leaking any classified intelligence in 2020, but said he could not confirm the same for other House Democrats.  

"I haven’t. My staff hasn’t. I can’t speak for what all the members of the committee have done or not done, including a lot of the Republican members," Schiff told CNN’s Dana Bash in 2020, following Trump claiming "Shifty Schiff" may have been behind another leak of intelligence given to the House Intelligence Committee at the time. 

The Trump administration continued its laser-focused hunt to identify and suss out internal federal government leakers during the second administration, with a White House official telling Axios in June, "We are declaring a war on leakers." 

The comment came in response to a leak of an internal assessment of the Trump administration's bombing a trio of Iranian nuclear facilities that claimed the strikes were not ads effective as the president said. 

Federal agencies such as the FBI, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security have leveraged using polygraph tests on staffers suspected of leaking information under the second Trump administration. 

Trump and Schiff have long been political foes. 

This was underscored during Trump's first administration when Schiff served as the lead House manager during the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020. It also was highlighted when Schiff repeatedly promoted claims that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia

FEDERAL HOUSING OFFICIAL SUBMITTED SCHIFF CRIMINAL REFERRAL TO DOJ OVER MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS

Schiff landed in hot water earlier this spring, when the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a letter to the Department of Justice in May sounding the alarm that in "multiple instances," Schiff allegedly "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property."

He is currently under criminal investigation for mortgage fraud, Fox Digital previously reported. The California Democrat has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the matter is a "baseless attempt at political retribution."

Days after Trump first posted about Schiff's mortgages in Maryland and California in July, the president's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, declassified documents that reportedly show "overwhelming evidence" that then-President Barack Obama and his national security team allegedly laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe after Trump's election win against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

"It lays out, these over 100 documents that you're referencing, that I declassified and released, spells out in great detail exactly what happens when you have some of the most powerful people in our country directly leading at the helm, President Obama and his senior-most national security cabinet, James Comey, John Brennan, James Clapper and Susan Rice and others, essentially making a very intentional decision to create this manufactured, politicized piece of intelligence with the objective of subverting the will of the American people," Gabbard told Fox News' Sean Hannity in July following the release. 

Schiff was an incredibly vocal lawmaker amid the Russian collusion claims, most notably when the House censured him in 2023 over his promotion that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. Schiff served in the House representing California from 2001 to 2024, when he was sworn-in as a senator after his successful 2024 campaign to serve in the nation's upper chamber.

Schiff also served on the Jan. 6 select committee, which investigated the breach of the Capitol building in 2021 by Trump supporters following then-President Biden's election win. 

At the 11th hour of Biden's tenure on Jan. 20, Schiff was among lawmakers who served on the committee who were granted preemptive pardons. The subcommittee concluded Trump's actions played a key role in promoting the breach of the Capitol and recommended Trump be criminally prosecuted. 

TRUMP ACCUSES 'SCAM ARTIST' SCHIFF OF LYING ABOUT MARYLAND HOME TO COMMIT MORTGAGE FRAUD

Biden specifically granted preemptive pardons to "Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee."

Schiff, however, had publicly railed against the prospect of Biden doling out preemptive pardons, saying it would set a poor precedent. 

"First, those of us on the committee are very proud of the work we did. We were doing vital quintessential oversight of a violent attack on the Capitol," Schiff said during an interview on ABC News in December 2024. "So I think it’s unnecessary."

"But second, the precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don’t want to set," he added.

Charges stemming from the Jan. 6 case were dismissed following Trump's decisive win in the 2024 presidential election against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. 

The White House responded to the whistleblower's declassified testimony claiming Schiff approved the release of classified information to damage Trump, and doubled down on Trump's stance that Schiff be "held accountable for the countless lies he told the American people in relation to the Russiagate scandal."

"This is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report," Leavitt said at a Tuesday White House press briefing. "Hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such."

"I understand Kash Patel, last night, declassified a 302 FBI document showing that a whistleblower, who is a Democrat, a career intelligence officer who worked for Democrats on the House Intel Committee for more than a decade, repeatedly warned the FBI in 2017 that then-Rep. Adam Schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear then-President Donald Trump over the Russiagate scandal," Leavitt said. 

In August, a representative for Schiff confirmed a legal defense fund was established for the senator in response to Trump and his allies. 

"It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable," Marisol Samayoa, a spokesperson for Schiff, told Fox News Digital Tuesday evening of the legal fund. "This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job."

Titled "Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund," the fund was filed with the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, The New York Times first reported. 

White House spokesman Harrison Fields called Schiff a "fraud" and "corrupt politician" when approached for comment Tuesday regarding the legal fund.  

"Adam Schiff is a sleazy and corrupt politician who betrayed his oath to the Constitution by prioritizing his selfish and personal animosity toward the President over the interests of the American people," Fields told Fox News Digital. "No amount of money can shield Adam from the truth that he is a fraud." 

Fox News Digital reached out to Schiff for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.  

Who is Steve Ricchetti, the longtime Biden confidante questioned in Comer’s cover-up probe?

Steve Ricchetti, a longtime Democratic operative and lobbyist, is sitting down with House Oversight Committee investigators Wednesday.

He’s known as a member of former President Joe Biden’s inner circle who reportedly played a key role in downplaying concerns, both public and private, about the ex-commander-in-chief’s mental fitness for office.

Ricchetti also reportedly helped craft Biden’s historic letter announcing the end of his 2024 re-election bid that July, according to the New York Times.

RON KLAIN DODGES REPORTERS AFTER MARATHON GRILLING IN BIDEN COVER-UP PROBE

But long before that, Ricchetti graduated from Miami University in Ohio and got a Juris Doctor from Virginia’s George Mason University.

His first major role in electoral politics came when Ricchetti served as executive director for the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, from 1990 to 1992.

Ricchetti then worked for former President Bill Clinton as a congressional liaison from 1993 to 1996 and then again as White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1998 to 2001.

During that second stint, he played a critical role in wrangling House Democrats during the GOP’s impeachment proceedings against Clinton.

In between and in later years, Ricchetti enjoyed a lucrative career as a lobbyist, even founding the lobbying firm Ricchetti Inc. with his brother in 2001.

His work with Biden began in 2012 when Ricchetti was appointed to be counselor to the vice president during the Obama administration – one of several ex-lobbyists appointed to that White House, despite former President Barack Obama’s vow not to hire K Street operatives. He was soon elevated to be Biden’s chief of staff in late 2013.

Ricchetti also chaired Biden’s 2020 campaign before playing a critical role in his administration, where he acted as part of a small "Politburo" of close advisors who helped control the White House, Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN host Jake Tapper wrote in their book "Original Sin."

"In terms of who was running the White House, it’s a small group of people that have been around," Thompson told the PBS program "Washington Week" earlier this year.

Several members of Ricchetti’s family also notably had roles in the Biden administration; two of his sons and his daughter worked for the Treasury, State Department, and in the White House, respectively.

At the time, the White House argued they got the jobs on their merits rather than their father’s closeness to Biden.

Ricchetti also reportedly played a key role in dismissing concerns about Biden’s mental health.

Two weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate against current President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported that Ricchetti got into a "shouting" argument with Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., after the latter called to express concerns about Biden’s political viability.

GOP LAWMAKERS CLASH OVER STRATEGY TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CRISIS

U.K.-based outlet The Times reported that Ricchetti "sounded like a mob boss" in a conversation with actor George Clooney days before the Hollywood star and longtime Democratic donor penned an explosive op-ed calling for a new 2024 nominee in early July 2024.

And multiple outlets have reported that Ricchetti also denied any concerns about Biden’s mental acuity in an off-the-record conversation with an unnamed reporter at an unnamed outlet that almost ran a story shining a light on concerns about Biden’s mental health.

Ricchetti is the seventh ex-Biden aide to speak with investigators in House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s probe into whether White House officials covered up signs of Biden’s decline.

Hunter Biden special counsel got ‘one resume’ from DOJ to help prosecute president’s son

FIRST ON FOX: Former special counsel David Weiss got little support from the Department of Justice (DOJ) when he sought lawyers to help prosecute President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, Weiss told Congress during a recent closed-door interview.

Amid delicate plea deal negotiations between Hunter Biden and Weiss in 2023, Weiss said he asked the DOJ deputy attorney general’s office for a team of trial lawyers and received a single resume, according to a transcript of the interview reviewed by Fox News Digital.

"Actually, as I think about the sequencing, I had started to reach out myself directly to offices or people that I knew and make my own inquiries," Weiss told House Judiciary Committee staff of his struggle to hire lawyers for the sensitive job of trying the president's son.

Weiss appeared on Capitol Hill for the interview in June as part of the committee’s inquiry into the DOJ’s years-long investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden.

SPECIAL COUNSEL WEISS BLASTS BIDEN IN FINAL HUNTER PROSECUTION REPORT

Now no longer a DOJ employee, Weiss spoke candidly for hours with the committee, shedding new light on his interactions with the Biden DOJ and giving fresh insight into why Hunter Biden was never charged with certain violations.

Weiss was appointed U.S. attorney of Delaware during the first Trump administration and began investigating Hunter Biden at that time. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland made Weiss special counsel in August 2023 after a plea agreement with Hunter Biden fell apart.

Republicans had accused Weiss of offering Hunter Biden a "sweetheart" plea deal that involved only misdemeanors. But in an unusual move, a judge rejected the deal, leading Weiss to instead bring two successful indictments against the then-first son, one for illegal gun possession and another for nine tax charges, including three felonies.

Weiss came under enormous scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats for his handling of the investigation, which had become a hyper-political national news story centered on the salacious behavior and wrongdoings of Hunter Biden, a recovering drug and alcohol addict, and allegations that Joe Biden was complicit in his son’s crimes.

Republicans claimed Weiss was not tough enough on Hunter Biden, while Democrats said he was being treated more harshly than a typical defendant because he was the president’s son. Joe Biden ultimately granted an unconditional pardon to his son, a move widely criticized by members of both parties.

Weiss said during the interview that he was "fortunate enough to obtain a couple very excellent prosecutors," a reference to the two DOJ attorneys who handled trial preparations for Hunter Biden.

But, Weiss also indicated that when he first requested lawyers in the spring of 2023, he had to be self-sufficient in finding them and that the deputy attorney general's office was unhelpful. Weiss noted he did not deal directly with former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco at all and assumed she was recused from Hunter Biden's cases.

Weiss said that at one point he ran into the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, which handles recruitment, at an event and asked if any hiring progress had been made.

Weiss did not "have a whole lot of success" during that conversation, he said.

"What do you mean, you didn’t have success? … They didn’t give you lawyers?" a committee aide asked.

"I got one resume," Weiss replied.

The aide asked, "Nobody wanted to come prosecute Hunter Biden?"

"I don’t want to say that because I don’t know that they weren’t trying to find people," Weiss said. "All I know was I didn’t get a whole lot of resumes."

HUNTER BIDEN: A LOOK AT HOW THE SAGA SPANNING OVER SIX YEARS UNFOLDED

Weiss eventually gained two attorneys, Leo Wise and Derek Hines, who went on to secure a conviction by a jury in Delaware after a week-long trial on gun possession charges and a guilty plea to all nine of Hunter Biden's tax charges.

A committee aide pressed Weiss on why he felt there was "such a drought" of help at DOJ headquarters.

"As I said a moment ago … I did not receive a lot of resumes in response to my initial request," Weiss said, noting that eventually the DOJ's Public Integrity Section assisted him.

Asked if the Public Integrity Section helped him because Weiss proactively reached out, Weiss replied, "Probably."

For his testimony, the Trump DOJ gave Weiss permission in a letter to talk to Congress about Hunter Biden’s cases. The department noted, however, that it could not authorize Weiss to talk about the former first son’s confidential tax information.

Weiss suggested, though, that he would have charged Hunter Biden for the 2014 and 2015 tax years if he could have.

FLASHBACK: DEMOCRATS CLASH WITH REPUBLICANS OVER PROSPECT OF CALLING HUNTER BIDEN IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

"To the extent I can put together — and this is general — a case that involves more years than not and allows me to more fully develop allegations about a course of conduct and a scheme, that's better for the prosecution," Weiss said. "So it's not like I'm looking to cut out years generally when you're pursuing a tax investigation."

During the years in question, Hunter Biden was raking in $1 million per year as a board member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father, then vice president, was overseeing foreign policy with Ukraine. The scenario became ripe for questions about conflicts of interest, in part because of suspicious interactions between Hunter Biden and the Obama State Department.

In Weiss’s final special counsel report, he dodged explaining why he brought charges of failure to pay taxes and tax evasion against Hunter Biden only for the tax years after 2015, citing Joe Biden’s pardon. Now, Weiss said, he would be more willing to talk about it if he were legally allowed to do so.

Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pressed Weiss, saying the "political aspects of Burisma" raised "glaring" questions about the prosecutorial decisions made for the years for which Hunter Biden avoided charges.

"I understand," Weiss replied. "Absolutely. Yes. And I wish that I could address it. But it's my understanding that, for me to trip into 2014 and '15 is a violation of [U.S. code]."

Weiss also told the committee his team had no serious discussions about charging Hunter Biden under a foreign lobby law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

"We just couldn't put together a sufficient case," Weiss said.

Key advisor called Hunter Biden’s role on strategy call ‘inappropriate’ after he overruled legal guidance

A top advisor to former President Joe Biden reportedly labeled Hunter Biden’s presence on a call about the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that former presidents have some immunity from prosecution "inappropriate," according to a new book. 

The book, "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America," was published Tuesday and chronicles how Biden’s team dismissed concerns about his age during the 2024 election cycle, along with how President Donald Trump secured his victory. 

The book said Biden’s White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients, coordinated a video call with key Biden staffers, including White House Counsel Ed Siskel, communications director Ben LaBolt, senior advisor Mike Donilon and others to discuss whether Biden should provide an on-camera statement to the Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision. 

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL POWER FROM PROSECUTION 

While Donilon already had drafted a written statement, Biden wanted to speak about the matter on-camera, the book claims. Staffers on the call started to hash out specifics of such an appearance, when Biden’s son started to chime into the call. 

"Suddenly an unidentified voice piped up from Biden’s screen and recommended an Oval Office address," the book said. "At first, some aides had no idea who was speaking. It soon became clear the voice belonged to Hunter Biden, who the White House staff had not known was on the call. Siskel expressed some concern about the appearance of using the Oval Office."

SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

"Hunter snapped back: ‘This is one of the most consequential decisions the Supreme Court has ever made.’ He said his father had every right to use the powerful imagery of the Oval Office to deliver that message," the book said. "They later settled on the Cross Hall, the long hallway on the first floor of the White House. After the call ended, Siskel told colleagues. Hunter’s presence was inappropriate."

Biden ultimately delivered a brief speech responding to the Supreme Court’s ruling and took no questions from the press, per the suggestion of his son, the book claimed.  

Siskel and a spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. 

On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a 6–3 ruling in Trump v. United States that former presidents have significant immunity from prosecution for acts they committed in an official capacity. The case made its way to the Supreme Court after Trump faced charges stemming from then-Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and engaged in any other alleged election interference. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, and claimed a former president could not face a prosecution without a House impeachment and a Senate conviction. 

BIDEN AIDES PUSHED FOR EARLY DEBATE TO SHOW OFF BIDEN'S ‘STRENGTH,’ EXPOSE TRUMP'S ‘WEAKNESS,’ BOOK SAYS 

The book "2024" is one of several that have been released in this year detailing Biden’s mental deterioration while in office and how Trump won the election. It is authored by Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of the New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post. 

Another book covering similar material is "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," released May 20.

Fox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden's cognitive decline and his inner circle’s alleged role in covering it up.

According to Dawsey, Hunter Biden’s involvement in his father’s affairs as president was not out of the ordinary during the former president’s time in office. 

"What we found out over the course of reporting for our book is, Hunter Biden (was) a major figure in the president's orbit," Dawsey said in a Sunday interview with ABC's "This Week." "He was often on these calls, he would pipe in to calls, he was helping him make campaign decisions, and the president was very concerned about his son. It was one of the things that was an albatross on him as he tried to run for re-election."

Here are Biden’s most controversial pardons, with most signed using AutoPen

The Justice Department is reviewing the list of people that were granted pardons by former President Joe Biden, amid new concerns about his use of an AutoPen to automatically sign documents, as well as concerns about his state of mind and mental acuity in his final months in office. 

TRUMP DOJ INVESTIGATING BIDEN-ERA PARDONS AMID CONCERNS OVER STATE OF MIND

Biden used his final weeks as commander-in-chief to grant clemency and pardon more than 1,500 individuals, in what his White House described as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president. 

But critics blasted Biden for some of the pardons and preemptive pardons for members of his family, inner circle, and some allies, amid concerns that the Trump administration would investigate and attempt to punish their actions. 

WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP'S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS

Biden signed the pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, by hand. But the others appear to have been signed by AutoPen. 

Here is a list of the former president’s most controversial pardons: 

Former President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden in December 2024—after vowing to the American people for months that he would not do so. 

Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea. 

Biden, in December, announced a blanket pardon that applies to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. 

HUNTER BIDEN: A LOOK AT HOW THE SAGA SPANNING OVER SIX YEARS UNFOLDED

"From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," Biden said. "There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."

Biden added, "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision." 

Just a day before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025, Biden signed an Executive Grant of Clemency for his brother James Biden and his wife Sarah Jones Biden; his sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John T. Owens; and his brother Francis W. Biden. 

The "full and unconditional" preemptive pardon for his family members covered "any nonviolent offenses against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon," which was signed on Jan. 19, 2025. 

The pardon appears to have been signed with AutoPen. 

Members of the Biden family had fallen at the center of the congressional investigation into their business dealings. 

The House of Representatives launched an impeachment inquiry against Biden, finding that Biden committed "impeachable conduct" during his time as vice president and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family." 

PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SIBLINGS JUST MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE

During the inquiry, congressional investigators heard testimony from James Biden, who ultimately was referred to the Justice Department for prosecution for making false statements to Congress about "key aspects" of the impeachment inquiry. 

The House of Representatives found that the Biden family and its associates received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014.

They also alleged that the Biden family leveraged Biden’s position as vice president to obtain more than $8 million in loans from Democrat benefactors. The loans "have not been repaid and the paperwork supporting many of the loans does not exist and has not been produced to the committees."

The Republicans said the alleged conspiracy took place while Biden was serving as vice president.

Biden, on Jan. 19, 2025, pardoned Milley, after an administration marred by the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. 

Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has admitted the withdrawal where 13 U.S. troops lost their lives was a "strategic failure."  

BIDEN COMMITTED ‘IMPEACHABLE CONDUCT,’ ‘DEFRAUDED UNITED STATES TO ENRICH HIS FAMILY’: HOUSE GOP REPORT

"My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today," Milley said in a statement, accepting the pardon. "After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights." 

The pardon appears to have been signed with AutoPen. 

Biden, also on Jan. 19, 2025, pardoned former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci also served as Biden’s chief medical advisor and oversaw the U.S. public health response and research on the COVID-19 virus and vaccine development. 

Fauci accepted the pardon in a statement shortly after Biden announced the move, claiming he was subject to "politically motivated threats of investigation and prosecution."

DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PARDON BUT INSISTS 'NO CRIME' WAS COMMITTED

"Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me. The fact is, however, that the mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family. For these reasons, I acknowledge and appreciate the action that President Biden has taken today on my behalf," Fauci said. 

Fauci’s pardon also appears to have been signed with AutoPen. 

Biden, also on Jan. 19, 2025, used AutoPen to sign a pardon for members of Congress who served on the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. 

BIDEN PARDONS MARK MILLEY, ANTHONY FAUCI, J6 COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The pardon also covered committee staff and the police officers from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police who testified before the committee. 

Biden’s sad prostate cancer diagnosis: Unanswered questions and MAGA attacks

Put aside politics for a moment, which I know is basically impossible in this supercharged environment.

There is no way not to feel sympathy for Joe Biden as a human being after his prostate cancer diagnosis was made public on Sunday. He has a serious, life-threatening disease.

I have plenty of medical questions about why Biden and his doctors waited so long to treat this particularly "aggressive" form of cancer until it spread to his bones. This is inexplicable to me. Now the Stage 4 cancer can’t be cured, though it could possibly be contained.

Was this part of the coverup of Biden’s dramatic decline in mental acuity, as documented in the new book "Original Sin"? How would voters have reacted if they had known that not only was Biden too old and feeble to run for a second term, but also had cancer?

BIDEN BATTLING 'MOST AGGRESSIVE TYPE' OF PROSTATE CANCER WITH BONE METASTASIS, MEDICAL EXPERT SAYS

But on a personal level, Biden’s life has been marked by tragedy, from the car accident that killed his first wife and daughter to the brain cancer that claimed his son Beau – which is why he announced a "Cancer Moonshot" as president.

Look, I’ve known Joe Biden for 40 years, and whatever you think of his politics, he’s a likable guy. I covered him as Senate Judiciary chairman. As vice president, he once sent my then-8-year-old daughter a handwritten note after she wrote a poem about them sharing the same birthday. He used to love talking to reporters. He would throw parties for the press and run around with a super soaker, spraying little kids. That was then.

But by 2023, he had no business running for president again, not when aides were debating whether he’d need a wheelchair in a second term, according to the Jake Tapper-Alex Thompson book. Many Democrats are angry that he’s reemerged in a rehab tour, wishing the 82-year-old man would just get off the stage.

The former president put out a photo with his wife yesterday, saying: "Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places."

Dr. Zeke Emanuel said on "Morning Joe" yesterday that the cancer has "been around for a very long time in President Biden – years… It is a little surprising to many of us oncologists that he wasn’t diagnosed earlier… He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021."

But none of this matters to the far-right types, many of them based in Florida. 

POLITICAL WORLD REACTS TO FORMER PRESIDENT BIDEN'S 'AGGRESSIVE' CANCER DIAGNOSIS: 'INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT'

Conservative influencer Roger O’Handley, writing under the name DC Draino ("America First"), wrote a screed that was retweeted or liked 10,000 times: "Some people seem to forget that he is a career criminal who almost destroyed America."

According to Mediaite, another far-right commentator, Brenden Dilley (Warlord Dilley, "media personality"), says: "In order to believe the Biden cancer diagnosis, you have to first believe that Biden and his family would willfully tell you the truth about anything. In order for that to happen, you have to be f---ing retarded." 

His solution: "Stage 5 prostate cancer." In other words, death.

Presidential adviser Laura Loomer called this "a PR strategy to shame the Democrats who are coming out with a book about the cover up of Biden’s health crisis."

Breanna Morello, a self-described "independent journalist": "They want all the Monday morning shows talking about it because Jake Tapper has a book to sell. It’s a PR move."

What these and other posts have in common is the lack of even a milligram of compassion for Joe Biden as a human being. Biden is evil, everything he does is evil, and if he dies, good riddance.

THE GREAT BIDEN COVERUP: AIDES DEBATED WHETHER TO PUT THE PRESIDENT IN A WHEELCHAIR

I find this inexplicably sad – win-at-all-costs politics is so all-consuming that human life is meaningless. 

Even President Trump dropped his usual attacks on his onetime opponent: "Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family and we wish Joe a fast and speedy recovery."

See, that wasn’t so hard.

Elon Musk, who’s faded from the news, shared a post from Clint Russell, who tweets as Liberty Lockdown ("a podcast for those who demand freedom"):: 

"So the plan was to run Biden, lie about his cancer and dementia, get him back in the WH, and then have him immediately step aside so Kamala's reign of terror could begin.

"All while trying to jail or kill DJT. Just making sure we're all on the same page, here. These people are evil." 

MEDICAL EXPERT 'ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED' BY TIMING OF BIDEN'S PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS

Musk responded with a "bullseye" emoji in a dart board. 

JD Vance, for his part, sought a middle ground:

"Look, I mean, first of all, of course, we wish the best for the former president’s health. But hopefully he makes the right recovery. Look, I will say, whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future. We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job."

Taylor Lorenz, who worked for the New York Times and Washington Post before going independent, was joyful about Biden’s news: "Hopefully he rots in hell and rests in piss."

I have defended her at times, but this is beyond appalling. Lorenz has disgraced herself.

Then again, she cheered when UnitedHealtcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered on the street, and refused to criticize the alleged shooter. What about his family? Too bad. Just zero regard for human life.

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Now is it likely that some on the left will celebrate once Trump passes, which I don’t see happening until after he’s long out of office? Sure. This disease goes both ways. But that doesn’t make it right. 

It was Bill Clinton, during his impeachment over Monica Lewinsky, who accused his opponents of "the politics of personal destruction." And that’s been used against the presidents who followed him. It’s a sickness that says human beings don’t count, only winning at all costs. 

Footnote: The Biden announcement prompted some equally sad news from Scott Adams, the brilliant "Dilbert" creator and conservative, pro-Trump voice who hosts a morning coffee for subscribers: 

"Well, I’ve decided today’s the day I’m going to take the opportunity — since a lot of you are here — to make an announcement of my own. Some of you have already guessed, so it won’t surprise you at all, but I have the same cancer Joe Biden has. So I also have prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones. I’ve had it longer than he’s had — well longer than he’s admitted having it.

"My life expectancy is… maybe the summer. I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer."

What a tragedy.

Where are they now? Hunter Biden’s ex-business partners praise Trump, MAGA following Biden departure

Hunter Biden's former business partners are no longer under the same scrutiny now that investigations into whether the former president's son used his family name for financial gain are over. 

Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, who both collaborated with Biden on various business ventures between 2012 and 2015, received pardons and commutations, respectively, from President Donald Trump after he took office. 

Archer, who has worked over the years to gain favor with Trump's world, signaled he would be interested in working for the Trump administration were a position offered to him, according to the New York Times. "I’m full MAGA now," he told the Times. "They’re more my people."

HUNTER BIDEN'S EX-BUSINESS PARTNER REVEALS CONVERSATION WITH TRUMP THAT REPORTEDLY INCLUDES A PARDON

Archer was reportedly given the cold-shoulder by the Biden family during President Joe Biden's tenure in the Oval Office, and as he protested his innocence amid Republicans' probe into the Biden family, Archer quietly made inroads with the Trump administration.

While Archer awaits a potential job in the Trump administration, he is reportedly working on a book and documentary chronicling his experiences. Archer is also reportedly working on a business project in the crypto industry as well. 

As a result of their pardons, both Archer and Galanis did not have to serve prison sentences handed down to them in relation to defrauding investors and a Native American tribal entity of tens of millions of dollars through a company for which Hunter Biden was listed as the vice chairman. 

In an interview on Fox News' "Hannity" this month, Galanis thanked President Trump and lauded Republicans, such as Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, for bringing "the proof" to light about "the Biden crime family." 

JONATHAN TURLEY: BIDEN DOJ BEHIND EVEN THE TIMES IN PURSUING ALLEGED HUNTER CORRUPTION

Galanis said during the interview that his "legitimate" businesses became "illegitimate" after they were aligned with the president's son. "100% of it was influence peddling," Galanis said when asked about his view of the Biden family's business practices. "I saw it firsthand." 

Meanwhile, James Biden, Hunter's uncle, is not sailing so smoothly, with Republicans requesting that the Trump administration prosecute the former president's brother for lying to Congress. 

James Biden allegedly denied that his brother, the former president, met in May 2017 with his son's business associate Tony Bobulinski while pursuing a deal with a Chinese-owned energy company, CEFC China Energy. 

Bobulinski, a key witness during the GOP's impeachment inquiry on account of claims he was privy to unethical business dealings by the Biden family, recently lost a defamation battle in court against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov. 

‘MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE’: HUNTER BIDEN'S FULL PARDON RESURFACES DECADE OF CONTROVERSIES, ‘INFLUENCE-PEDDLING’

Bobulinski was seeking $30 million in damages after Tarlov claimed during an episode of "The Five" that Bobulinski's legal fees were being paid for by a Trump-aligned political action committee.

Another notable ex-business partner of Hunter Biden, Eric Schwerin, has kept a low profile ever since Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released his testimony from the GOP's impeachment inquiry. In his testimony, Schwerin stated he was "not aware of any financial transactions or compensation" that Joe Biden received as vice president related to his family's business dealings. 

Hunter Biden's "Sugar brother" and lawyer, Kevin Morris, who helped finance the first son's legal fees with a reported $6.5 million, later told associates that his generosity left him financially tapped. 

According to a report by the N.Y. Post, Morris faced his own ethical issues when he was accused of spying on a movie production about President Biden called "My Son Hunter" that was being made in Serbia. The filmmaker involved with the project, filmaker Phelim McAleer, hit Morris with a bar complaint in 2022.

"He used deceit to secure such access by not disclosing he was Mr. Biden’s lawyer. Mr. Morris used his cover as a documentary filmmaker to conceal his true purpose: performing legal investigative work on behalf of his client, Mr. Hunter Biden," McAleer said in his bar complaint.

The California Bar Association declined to disbar Morris in late 2024.

Ye Jianming, a Chinese billionaire and former chairman of CEFC China Energy, one of the companies Republicans alleged Hunter Biden sought to gain favor with using his family name, has reportedly disappeared from public view, Reuters reported in 2023. While his whereabouts are unknown, according to Reuters, Jianming's name has appeared in graft trials of senior Chinese Communist Party officials and state bank executives.  

Biden’s former spokesman slams Trump and GOP ‘colluding to impeach’ judges

FIRST ON FOX: A top former spokesperson for former President Joe Biden is blasting President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress for proposing potential judicial impeachments, as the administration hits an array of court-imposed obstacles in implementing its agenda. 

Former White House spokesperson Andrew Bates now advises a group known as Unlikely Allies, which says it is working to create "cross-partisan support for the needs and interests of all Americans."

"Radical, corrupt attacks on judges are putting our Constitution and the freedom of every single American in danger from government overreach," Bates told Fox News Digital on the group's behalf. "For the first time in history, our president and members of his party in Congress are colluding to impeach any federal judge who stops the most powerful person in the world from breaking the law."

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"The President has also called for making dissent illegal, which would trample the 1st Amendment and threaten the fundamental right of any American to disagree with his agenda — whether it’s cutting taxes for the rich or raising the prices he falsely promised to lower," he continued. 

According to the group, Unlikely Allies "is made up of everyday citizens, families, communities, and organizations who are committed to solving our toughest problems, together."

SCOOP: BILL PREVENTING ACTIVIST JUDGES FROM BLOCKING TRUMP'S AGENDA BACKED BY WHITE HOUSE

"Driven by the values that unite us, our goal is to create unified, cross-partisan support for the needs and interests of all Americans. This isn’t about left or right, Republican or Democrat — it’s about American values and holding our government accountable," a description of the organization read. 

The White House responded to Bates' statement, with Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly telling Fox News Digital, "Biden communications alum Andrew Bates has no credibility after lying to the world about Biden’s cognitive decline. Just like these judges, Bates is a left-wing activist masquerading as a nonpartisan as he works to destroy the separation of powers and subvert the will of the American people." 

The dispute comes as federal judges across the country continue to impose restrictions on Trump actions until further review and legal determinations. 

Recently, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted an emergency order to temporarily halt the administration's deportation flights of illegal immigrants.

SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS GOP LOOKING AT 'ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS' TO ADDRESS 'ACTIVIST JUDGES' OPPOSING TRUMP

The judge granted the order to review the 1798 wartime-era Alien Enemies Act being invoked by the administration in order to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals and alleged members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua.

This only further angered the president, who appeared to call for Boasberg's impeachment. "This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!" he said on Truth Social.

DEM SENATOR REFUSES TO ADDRESS RELATIONSHIP WITH FOUNDER OF SOROS-FUNDED 'PROPAGANDA' NEWS NETWORK

Republicans in general have appeared to scrutinize the ability of federal district judges to make blanket nationwide orders in recent days. 

"Federal judges aren’t there to replace presidential policy choices," wrote Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on X. "Nor is it their job to neuter presidents by delaying presidential decisions." 

"Their job is to resolve disputes about what the law says," he continued. 

Lee also said he is working on a bill to address the issue. 

In the House, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has a measure that would prevent federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions. Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that Trump himself has shown interest in Issa's bill. Top White House aides shared as much with senior Capitol Hill staff this week, explaining that "the president wants this."

South Carolina man faces federal charges for allegedly threatening to assassinate Trump

A 47-year-old South Carolina man faces federal charges after he allegedly threatened to kill President Donald Trump. 

Travis Keith Lang, 47, of Irmo, South Carolina, was arraigned on federal charges Friday in a Columbia courthouse after being arrested Thursday. 

He pleaded not guilty and was denied bond. 

Lang is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center, according to WLTX-TV. 

NEW BOOK DETAILS SECURITY LAPSES AHEAD OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: 'CLEAR THERE WAS A PROBLEM'

Lang’s indictment, filed Tuesday, said he had threatened to "take the life of, to kidnap, and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States."

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the allegations. 

Lang is scheduled to next appear in court for a March 14 bond hearing. 

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CURRAN 'CONFIDENT' THE AGENCY WILL SOLVE FAILED TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS

Last year, Lang filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president as a Republican, but he was not on the Republican primary ballot in South Carolina or anywhere else, and the only donation he received was for $6,000 from himself, according to FEC filings. 

He could face up to five years in prison, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported, citing the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina.

Lang’s Facebook page still says "Travis Lang for President," and his picture on his social media accounts is a split of his face and Abraham Lincoln. 

He has also been critical of former President Joe Biden, at one point in 2023 writing on Facebook that Congress should begin articles of impeachment against him. 

A U.S. attorney this week told a judge that Lang had previously made multiple threats to both Trump and Biden, the newspaper reported, adding that the Secret Service had visited him to tell him to stop making threats. 

Lang referenced the Secret Service visit on his social media, claiming it was sent there because Biden got "scared" when Lang decided to run for president. 

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The threats come after Trump faced two assassination attempts last year, including when he was grazed in the ear by a bullet while speaking at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Lexington County Sheriff's Office and the Secret Service for comment. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.  

Grassley, Johnson demand NARA turn over Biden records relating to email aliases, family business dealings

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson are demanding the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) turn over records relating to former President Joe Biden’s use of a personal email address to conduct official government business and relating to his family’s financial dealings.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., penned a letter to the acting general counsel of NARA demanding the records, which they have been seeking from the agency since 2021.

FLASHBACK: NATIONAL ARCHIVES TO HAND OVER 62,000 BIDEN RECORDS TO HOUSE GOP, INCLUDING EMAILS USING ALIASES

"Since 2021, we have conducted oversight of Joe Biden’s use of multiple pseudonyms and personal email addresses for official government business when he served as vice president," they wrote. "Despite our multiple requests for information, the Biden White House failed to respond."

Grassley and Johnson noted that they have sent five letters to NARA requesting documents they say are "vital" to their oversight work. 

"Although former President Biden is no longer in office and he pardoned his son Hunter and other family members, we believe it is of importance to review these records so the American people have a full accounting of Joe Biden and his family’s activities while Joe Biden was in government," they wrote. 

The senators are demanding all records in NARA’s possession referencing Hunter Biden and his business partners, including Devon Archer and Christopher Heinz; Chinese and Russian business associates; and joint-ventures and groups that they worked with, including Rosemont Seneca, Rosemont Capital, Bohai Harvest, Blue Star Strategies, CEFC China Energy, Hudson West and more. 

FLASHBACK: BIDEN WAS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH HUNTER’S BUSINESS PARTNERS USING EMAIL ALIAS AS VP

They also are demanding records to or from the office of the vice president – Biden's role in the Obama administration – referencing those individuals and those companies. 

Grassley and Johnson are also demanding all records with Joe Biden’s pseudonyms and email addresses, including "RobinWare456@gmail.com, Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov, JRB Ware2, and 67stingray." 

They also want "all records encompassed in the nine boxes of records." 

Grassley and Johnson have been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings since 2019. Specifically, the senators were investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. 

Grassley and Johnson released a report in September 2020 saying that Obama administration officials "knew" Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma was "problematic" and interfered "in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine."

Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014 and, at the time, reportedly connected the firm with consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine. During the time Hunter Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice president and ran U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration.

Meanwhile, Fox News Digital exclusively reported in 2023 that Biden, as vice president, used alias email accounts 327 times during a nine-year period – 2010 to 2019 – to correspond with his son and his business associate, Eric Schwerin. 

GRASSLEY, JOHNSON DEMAND ANSWERS AFTER FBI SAID HUNTER BIDEN PROBE ADVANCED RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION

Most of that email traffic took place while Biden was vice president. Fifty-four of the emails were "exclusively" between Joe Biden and Schwerin, who House Republicans described as "the architect of the Biden family’s shell companies."

The information came amid the House Republican impeachment inquiry against Biden to determine whether he had any involvement in his son’s business dealings. Biden repeatedly denied having any involvement despite evidence placing him at meetings and on phone calls with his son and his foreign business partners.

In 2024, House lawmakers released their final report, spanning 292 pages, saying Biden had engaged in "impeachable conduct." They said he "abused his office" and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family."

WERE UNDERCOVER SOURCES FROM OTHER DOJ AGENCIES PRESENT ON JAN 6? GRASSLEY, JOHNSON DEMAND ANSWERS

Republicans said there was "overwhelming evidence" that Biden participated in a "conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family." They alleged the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by "leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden."

In the summer of 2023, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal gun charges as part of a plea deal that collapsed before a federal judge in Delaware. In a stunning reversal, Hunter Biden was forced to plead not guilty and sat for a trial this year. 

Before his trial for federal tax crimes, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty.

Before leaving office, President Biden announced a blanket pardon for his son, applying to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.

Biden’s pardon of his son came after months of vowing to the American people that he would not do so.

And hours before leaving office on Jan. 20, the president issued pardons for his brother, Jim Biden, and his brother's wife, Sara Jones Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband, John Owens; and his brother, Francis Biden.

The president argued that his family could be subject to "politically motivated investigations" after he left office.