House GOP chairman accuses Hunter Biden of lying to Congress, citing new whistleblower evidence

The chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday formally accused Hunter Biden of lying to Congress, releasing fresh evidence from two IRS whistleblowers that conflicts with the testimony President Joe Biden's son gave to lawmakers a few months ago.

"Hunter Biden’s deposition is key to understanding the attempts to conceal how the family made millions from selling access," Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. "Yet, new documents provided by the whistleblowers show that Hunter Biden repeatedly lied to Congress in his February deposition to distance his involvement in what should be considered a clear scheme to enrich the Biden family."

The allegation could set up a potential criminal referral from Congress to the Justice Department seeking a fresh prosecution of Hunter Biden, who already faces two trials this summer on gun and tax evasion charges.

The first lie Hunter Biden told, according to Smith, is that when he invoked his father's name to threaten a Chinese businessman, he had messaged the wrong "Zhao" because he was "high or drunk." However, WhatsApp records show the first son not only messaged the correct company official, but their interactions continued for months after that night. 

“First, Hunter Biden lied about the recipient of a WhatsApp message sent with the apparent intention to threaten a business associate and demand payment. In the message, Hunter Biden twice mentioned he was with his father. In the deposition, Hunter Biden sought to dismiss the message, claiming that he was either quote 'high or drunk' when he sent it, and in that state, had sent it to the wrong Zhao, and not actually the one affiliated with the Chinese energy company, CEFC. Hunter claimed under oath that the recipient, quote 'had no understanding or even remotely knew what,…I was even‚…talking about'," Smith said in his opening statement. 

The  WhatsApp records show the pair messaged back and forth for months and Zhao appears to give no indication in these messages he is unaware of what Hunter is speaking about. 

You can read the WhatsApp messages below: 

"Second, Hunter Biden lied when he claimed he was not the corporate secretary of Rosemont Seneca Bohai and that the shell company he established with Devon Archer and its associated bank accounts were not under his control nor affiliated with him," Smith claimed. 

Yet, in a Rosemont Seneca corporate document released by the committee, Biden affirmed that he was, in fact, the corporate secretary.

"I, Robert Hunter Biden, hereby certify that I am the duly elected, qualified and acting Secretary of Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC," the corporate document reads, which you can read below. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.