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White House staffers who attempt to distance President Joe Biden from allegations about his son Hunter's business deals could "magnify" the scrutiny the president is under and perhaps even implicate him legally, lawyer Jonathan Turley has said.
Turley, a legal commentator on Fox News, said the White House had contacted his colleague Peter Doocy, the network's White House correspondent, right after his exchange with Joe Biden an event in New Mexico.
"Doocy said that the White House called him as soon as he made it to his car to refute the specifics of the allegations on discussing business," Turley wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "The use of White House staff to repeat these positions could magnify the problems for Biden."
The Fox reporter approached the president on Wednesday to ask about the testimony provided to Congress by Hunter Biden's former business associate, Devon Archer. The exchange grew tense after the president denied talking business with anyone and told Doocy, "I knew you'd have a lousy question."
Archer appeared before the House Oversight Committee last month as part of a Republican inquiry into Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings. House Republicans have sought to tie the father to his son's career, alleging that the then vice president influenced foreign policy to help Hunter.
Turley told Newsweek on Thursday: "Joe Biden has now been shown to have been lying about his lack of knowledge and details like his son making no money in China. White House staff have actively pushed false accounts, including denials of his presence at key dinners."
He added: "That can bootstrap the prior scandal into a presidential scandal for the purposes of any impeachment inquiry."
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
GOP lawmakers have seized on Archer's comments about Hunter putting his father on speakerphone while the pair were meeting with foreign executives. Archer testified that Joe Biden was on the phone during a number of their business dinners, estimating that it happened 20 times over his decade-long partnership with Hunter.
Although Archer has stressed that Joe Biden did not talk about business during those calls, they have raised eyebrows. "In the rearview, it's an abuse of soft power," Archer told conservative pundit Tucker Carlson in an interview.
"There was not business content in these conversations. The idea of signals and influence—the prize is enough in speaking or hearing or knowing you have that proximity to power," Archer added.
Despite the concerns raised about Archer's testimony, Republicans who claim that Joe Biden participated in an alleged bribery scheme have yet to provide substantive evidence.
Nonetheless, Turley argued on Thursday that the Biden administration's attempts to deny those accusations could cause the president legal trouble if there is evidence that he was present during his son's business dealings.
"Far more serious are the accusations facing Biden over his response to a growing corruption scandal allegedly involving his son and others," Turley wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. "It now seems clear that Biden has lied to the public for years on critical details of the scandal. Indeed, his denial of any knowledge or involvement in his son's overseas business deals go back to the 2020 presidential debate."
Turley said that because of the precedent set by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the Justice Department's investigations into former President Donald Trump, Biden, too, could be subject to criminal charges.
One of Trump's federal indictments centers on the argument that he continued to claim he had won the 2020 election despite knowing he had lost—prompting Turley to suggest the same could be said about Joe Biden's denial of involvement in his son's business dealings.
"For years, Biden has allowed his staff, including White House officials, to repeat his denials while opposing any further investigation," Turley said.
"That is why guilt by implication or association, as employed by Special Counsel Smith against Trump, could be a dangerous legal standard for Joe Biden."
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more