Media Miss: Left-leaning news outlets didn’t cover $40k payment to Joe Biden

The House Oversight Committee said President Biden received $40,000 in laundered money from China in 2017. Committee members contend that this personal check from Biden’s brother and sister-in-law is proof.

​​According to the Straight Arrow News Media Miss™ tool, this story is a Media Miss for the left. The Media Landscape indicates that while right-leaning outlets are covering this story, no left-leaning outlets are reporting on the topic.

Here’s a look at some of the coverage:

The New York Post:

The payment “allegedly involves the same business deal in which Joe Biden was called the ‘big guy’ and penciled in for a 10% cut — and would be the first proven instance of the commander-in-chief getting a piece of his family’s foreign income.”

National Review:

“The committee says the series of payments establish a direct benefit Biden received from his family’s business dealings, despite Biden’s claims that he has not been involved.”

Here’s how the committee says it traced the money: 

• On July 30, 2017, Hunter Biden sent a WhatsApp message to Raymond Zhao — an associate of the Chinese company CEFC — regarding a $10 million capital payment. The message stated: “Z – Please have the director call me – not James or Tony or Jim – have him call me tonight. I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled.” 

• On Aug. 8, 2017, a Chinese company affiliated with CEFC transferred $5 million into a business bank account Hunter Biden had opened. The committee said that wire transfer was the only money in the account. 

• Hunter Biden transferred $400,000 to his professional corporation that same day. 

• On Aug. 14, 2017, Hunter Biden transferred $150,000 from his corporation to the Lion Hall Group, a company used by the president’s brother and sister-in-law to conduct various financial transactions. 

• On Aug. 28, 2017 Sara Biden, the president’s sister-in-law, withdrew $50,000 from the Lion Hall Group and put it in a personal savings account. Before that deposit, the account had about $46 in it. After the deposit and a $1,000 withdrawal, it had $49,000. 

• On Sept. 3, 2017, Sara Biden signed a $40,000 check to Joe Biden. It stated loan repayment in the memo. 
  

“In taking funds sourced to a CCP-linked company that wanted to advance China’s interests, Joe Biden exposed himself to future blackmail and put America’s interests behind his own desire for money,” Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. 

Critics of the Republican-led investigation argue the committee has never proven that Joe Biden directly benefited from his family’s business dealings.

“Every single witness Chairman Comer has brought in has explained Joe Biden was not involved in his family’s business ventures. But Republicans keep peddling deceptive claims to try to revive their old debunked narrative,” Oversight Democrats posted on X, formerly Twitter. 

Despite the criticism, Chairman Comer said he will continue the investigation into the Biden family.

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