President Biden will soon be officially scrutinized by Congress for evidence he committed impeachable acts while serving as Barack Obama’s vice president and possibly after. But even before that investigation begins, a plurality of voters already don’t believe Biden’s repeated denials of involvement in son Hunter’s far-flung business affairs, the I&I/TIPP Poll found.
“How honest has Biden been about his involvement in the business dealings of his son Hunter Biden with foreign entities?” the national online I&I/TIPP Poll asked 1,351 Americans from Aug. 30-Sept. 1. The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.7 percentage points.
The response will likely give little comfort to either Biden or the Democratic Party at large.
Among those responding, 48% called Biden either “not very honest” (14%) or “not at all honest” about his business dealings with Hunter, compared to the 36% who believed Joe Biden has been either “very honest” (19%) or “somewhat honest” (17%). Another 15% said they were “not sure.”
As might be expected for such a hot-button question, the political schism on the answers was very large. Just 16% of Democrats responded Biden was “not very honest” or “not at all honest.” That compares with 85% of Republicans and 53% of independents.
Meanwhile, just 10% of GOP followers and 22% of independents described Biden as honest when it comes to his business affairs, versus 68% of Democrats.
Similarly, by ideology, conservatives (71%) and moderates (50%) see Biden as dishonest. Liberals (73%) view Biden as honest.
So, outside of his own party, it’s fair to say that Biden is widely viewed as having falsely responded to repeated questions of his ties to son Hunter’s millions of dollars of business deals.
But there are other differences as well. Race, for one. Only 33% of blacks and hispanics characterized Biden as “not honest,” compared to 55% of whites.
Income was also a perhaps surprising difference. Adding up all the data for the income three income classes earning less than $75,000 a year, and you find 52% view Biden as not honest. But for those earning more than that, it’s only 36%.
And parental status seems to strongly determine how Biden is viewed on this poll question. Among those who self-identify as parents in the poll, just 37% said they felt Biden was “not honest,” as measured against 52% of nonparents.
So how honest has Biden been? Right now, evidence is piling up that the president has, at best, shaded the truth, and at worst, outright lied about his ties to Hunter’s many foreign business dealings.
Compiled mainly by non-mainstream media outlets, the evidence that Biden and his family profited off his government positions appears convincing, if not outright damning.
The main issue, of course, has been Biden’s steadfast claim to have kept himself out of son Hunter’s business affairs. The evidence is abundant he didn’t.
Here are just a couple of examples of the evidence that has emerged:
In 2014, the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma strangely put Hunter Biden, who had little to no energy experience or deep familiarity with Ukraine, on its board of directors at a cool $1 million annual salary.
As Rich Lowry recently described what happened, “Shortly after Hunter joined, the CFO of Burisma, Vadym Pozharsky, sent an email requesting that he and his business partner, Devon Archer, ‘use your influence’ (they don’t call it influence-peddling for nothing) to bring a halt to the investigation into Zlochevsky (Burisma’s founder) and Burisma.”
Not long after, Pozharsky, feeling threatened following the collapse of the government of Viktor Yanukovych during the so-called Maidan Revolution, called on Hunter: “Can you ring your dad?,” he asked.
Hunter did. Not coincidentally, his father later threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine unless the government fired the prosecutor who was then pursuing Burisma. The government did so. Joe Biden would later brag about forcing the government to back down.
The corruption didn’t end there. Just two months ago, Archer testified to Congress that “Joe Biden was ‘The Brand’ and was used to send “signals” of power, access, and influence to enrich the Biden family from foreign sources,” wrote the American Insider.
Indeed, the House Oversight Committee has found what it claims are 22 separate pieces of evidence that Biden was involved in son Hunter’s global business dealings, which was why it launched an impeachment investigation.
Just as troubling, Archer further told Congress that he was aware of at least 20 times that then-Vice President Biden spoke to Hunter’s foreign business clients and partners via speakerphone.
“In February 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with oligarchs from Russia and Kazakhstan who funneled millions of dollars to Hunter Biden and his business associates,” the committee report asserted, quoting sworn testimony.
These are but two of 22 pieces of significant evidence linking then-V.P. Biden to son Hunter’s many business deals. To read them all at greater length, go here. The evidence strongly suggests that the alleged influence-scheme is not limited to Ukraine (cited above), but also includes Russia, China and others.
The House Oversight panel has “methodically investigated the corruption scandal for months and only now are moving to a heightened inquiry,” according to Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law scholar who holds the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School.
“The House has established a labyrinth of dozens of shell companies and accounts allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Biden family members. There is now undeniable evidence to support influence-peddling by Hunter Biden and some of his associates — with Joe Biden, to quote Hunter’s business partner Devon Archer, being ‘the brand‘ they were selling.”
And the amounts allegedly involved in the various Biden influence schemes aren’t petty cash, but, rather, large sums.
“Bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to the Biden family members and associates through various shell companies,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said, opening the impeachment inquiry on Sept. 13.
As the I&I/TIPP Poll clearly shows, despite reluctance by the big media to aggressively report on Biden’s possible conflicts of interest and profiteering, just under half of all Americans think Biden hasn’t been honest about his dealings with and through his son Hunter.
The coming battle in the House over whether Biden’s transgressions are impeachable, coupled with 91 felony charges leveled against former President Donald Trump, will almost certainly determine who the next U.S. president will be: Biden, Trump, or some as yet unknown challenger.
I&I/TIPP publishes timely, unique, and informative data each month on topics of public interest. TIPP’s reputation for polling excellence comes from being the most accurate pollster for the past five presidential elections.
Terry Jones is an editor of Issues & Insights. His four decades of journalism experience include serving as national issues editor, economics editor, and editorial page editor for Investor’s Business Daily.
Want to dig deeper? Download crosstabs from our store for a small fee!
Our performance in 2020 for accuracy as rated by Washington Post:
We could use your help. Support our independent journalism with your paid subscription to keep our mission going.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics And Geoeconomics
TIPP Staff
TIPP Staff
TIPP Staff
Daily Caller News Foundation
Issues & Insights Editorial Board
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics And Geoeconomics
1. Zelensky Praises Soldiers As Ukraine Claims Control Of Key Town On Eastern Front – WION
Ukraine claimed that its forces had retaken a key town south of the key frontline city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the soldiers for recapturing Klishchiivka, which Russia captured in January.
A spokesman for Ukrainian troops in the east, said that control over Klishchiivka could help the Ukrainian army encircle Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces after one of the war’s longest and bloodiest battles.
2. Poland To Keep Border Closed To Ukraine Grain Imports – UPI
Poland will not end a ban on Ukraine grain imports despite a decision by the European Union to end its similar measures, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed.
The EU in May enacted the ban on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to neighboring Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The move was meant to protect farmers in those countries from bulk imports of Ukrainian goods that would cause local prices to plummet and increase competition.
3. Rifle, Fur Hat, Drones: North Korea’s Kim Returns With Gifts From Russia – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is heading home on Monday, most likely with gifts from his Russian hosts, including a rifle, a cosmonaut’s glove, and military drones – which on their own violate UN sanctions.
Kim was also presented with five one-way attack drones and a Geranium-25 reconnaissance drone, which is widely used in the war in Ukraine, Russia’s TASS news agency said.
4. China Sends Top Envoy Wang Yi To Russia For Security Talks – BBC
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi’s visit comes after Vladimir Putin meets with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un that was thought to yield an arms deal.
Russian media said Mr Wang’s trip would also lay the ground for Mr Putin to make a landmark visit to Beijing soon. China’s foreign ministry said Mr. Wang is in Russia for four days for “strategic security consultations.”
5. WHO Chief Pushes China For ‘Full Access’ To Find Covid’s Origins, Offers To Send Team – Reuters
“We’re pressing China to give full access, and we are asking countries to raise it during their bilateral meetings — to urge Beijing to cooperate,” WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus told the FT.
Ghebreyesus has long been pressing China to share its information about the origins of COVID-19, saying that until that happened, all hypotheses remained on the table.
6. Taiwan Urges China To Stop ‘Continuous Military Harassment’ – Al Jazeera
Taiwan’s defense ministry said since Sunday, it had spotted 103 Chinese military aircraft, including fighter jets, a number it called a “recent high.” It also said it detected nine navy ships.
Tony Hu, a former senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the United States Defense Department, said as the Chinese activities were in international airspace, they were not illegal under international law but had the “intent to scare Taiwan and try to flex their muscle.”
7. Xi Jinping’s Security Obsession Turns Ordinary Citizens Into Spy Hunters – Bloomberg
As President Xi Jinping throws up a forcefield of security controls to repel perceived foreign threats to Communist Party rule, Beijing’s message to the public is spooks are everywhere – not just universities.
At the government-run Tsinghua University, videos were beamed onto faculty screens instructing teachers and students to become a “defense line” against foreign forces. At the same time, the Beijing University of Technology threw a national-security-themed garden party, according to the nation’s spy agency.
8. The Long Arm Of Chinese Law Is Getting Longer In Southeast Asia – RFA
In Southeast Asia, Beijing uses criminal gangs as instruments of statecraft. The archipelago of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along China’s southwestern flank were, in essence, “splinters” of Chinese sovereignty, where local law enforcement had little to no jurisdiction.
Recently, however, Chinese law enforcement agencies have intensified their cooperation with Southeast Asian counterparts to address the scourge of transnational crime, money laundering, illicit drug production, human trafficking, and cyber scams.
9. China’s Top Developers Lost Close To $3bn Due To Weakened Yuan – Nikkei Asia
Top mainland Chinese property developers recorded nearly $3 billion in foreign exchange losses, mainly on their U.S.-dollar borrowings during the first half of the year as the yuan dropped further against the greenback, adding pressure to their struggle to secure cash to service mounting debts.
U.S.-dollar indebted Evergrande, Sunac, and Country Garden head the list.
10. Turkey’s Erdogan Asks Musk To Build Tesla Factory, State-Owned Media Says – Al Jazeera
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Elon Musk during a meeting at Turkish House in New York, the state-owned Anadolu Agency said.
Musk is also set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California. Musk posted on X that their talks would focus on artificial intelligence technology.
Tesla in August expressed an interest in building a factory in India that would produce a low-cost electric vehicle (EV).
11. Saudi Arabia Suspends Talks On Peace Deal With Israel, Arab Report Claims – The Jerusalem Post
Saudi Arabia informed the Biden administration of its decision to halt all talks of normalizing ties with Israel, the Arab news outlet Elaph cited an Israeli official in the Prime Minister’s Office as saying.
According to the unconfirmed report, Riyadh issued a message through the U.S., explaining that the “extremist” nature of Israel’s right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “torpedoing any possibility of rapprochement with the Palestinians, and thus with the Saudis.”
12. Israel Rubbishes Reports Of Saudi Suspending Talks On Peace Deal – WION
Israeli authorities rubbished reports of Saudi Arabia reportedly suspending its discussions about normalizing relations with Israel and asserted that discussions were still in progress.
13. Wielding Chainsaw And Huge Dollar Bill, Argentine Radical Taps Into Voter Fury – Reuters
Wielding a chainsaw above his head in the Argentine city of La Plata this week, radical presidential front-runner Javier Milei riled thousands of supporters angry with 124% inflation and a painful cost-of-living crisis.
The economist and TV pundit, who only got into politics two years ago, has already shaken up the South American nation’s political landscape, coming first in an open primary in August. With momentum behind him, he is seen as the candidate to beat in October’s election.
13. Tucker Carlson Erupts Into Argentina’s Presidential Campaign With Javier Milei Interview – A.P.
Argentinian presidential candidate Javier Milei railed against socialism and praised Donald Trump in an interview with U.S. host Tucker Carlson.
In the interview, the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” Milei characterized campaigns to legalize abortion and to place restrictions on economies over climate change as being part of a “socialist agenda.”
Please email [email protected]
We could use your help. Support our independent journalism with your paid subscription to keep our mission going.
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
