On Thursday, ABC’s Good Morning America surprisingly devoted a nearly four-minute report to actual investigative journalism, examining corruption allegations against Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. At the top of the morning show, fill-in co-host David Muir promoted the upcoming story: “...the ABC news investigation into Biden’s son....Did Hunter Biden and his firm make millions overseas in countries where his father, the former vice president, acted as the top U.S. diplomat?”
In the 7:30 a.m. ET half hour, correspondent Tom Llamas pointed out: “This is actually an issue Joe Biden has been dealing with since 2014, but it’s come up again because he’s now running for president.” The reporter warned that “Republicans, including President Trump, are trying to hammer Biden over this,” and framed the story: “At issue, was Hunter Biden profiting off his dad’s work as vice president and did Joe Biden allow it?”
“In 2014, Ukrainians, sick of corruption, revolted. Vice President Joe Biden went to Kiev to help the new government,” Llamas explained. That was followed by a soundbite of Biden telling the Ukrainians: “You have to fight the cancer of corruption.” Llamas exposed the apparent hypocrisy of that statement: “Just three weeks later a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma, accused of corruption, appoints Hunter Biden, seen here in their promotional videos, to their board of directors, paying his firm more than a million dollars a year.”
Not only did the report mention Hunter Biden’s suspicious foreign deal making, it also highlighted his past drug use: “Hunter, a lawyer, who had just been discharged from the Navy Reserves for testing positive for cocaine.”
Turning to Daria Kaleniuk of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Centre, Llamas asked: “How do you judge what Hunter Biden was doing?” Kaleniuk declared: “I think that Hunter Biden did a very bad thing and he was very wrong. He allowed his name to be abused.”
As if all that information wasn’t enough, Llamas went further:
And Ukraine wasn’t the only country where Hunter Biden’s business and his father’s diplomacy as vice president intersected. It also happened in China. This video shows Chinese diplomats greeting Vice President Biden as he arrived in Beijing in December of 2013....Less than two weeks later, Hunter’s firm had new business, creating an investment fund in China, involving the government-controlled Bank of China. With reports they hoped to raise $1.5 billion. Hunter still plays a role in the fund.
At the beginning and end of unusually critical piece about the Democratic frontrunner, Joe Biden was subjected to shouted questioning that the liberal media normally reserve for Republicans:
LLAMAS: Mr. Vice president, Tom Llamas with ABC News. How you doing? Got a quick question for you.
It’s a question we tried to ask repeatedly.
Can we ask you about Ukraine and China?!
But kept getting blocked.
(...)
LLAMAS: One person who did not want to talk about it, Joe Biden.
Mr. Vice president, what’s your take on that? Was there a conflict of interest there? Was there a clear conflict of interest?
ABC was actually late to the story. The New York Times published an expose on Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings back on May 1. However, ABC at least took the time to cover the unflattering news about the top Democrat. When will NBC and CBS discover the potential scandal?
Here is a full transcript of the June 20 report on ABC’s GMA:
7:42 AM ET
DAVID MUIR: Now to our ABC News investigation this morning into Joe Biden’s son Hunter and questions about money he made from foreign business dealings while his father was vice president. Our chief national affairs correspondent Tom Llamas traveled to Ukraine to try to get some answers. And Tom, what did you find?
TOM LLAMAS: Dave, good morning to you. This is actually an issue Joe Biden has been dealing with since 2014, but it’s come up again because he’s now running for president. Republicans, including President Trump, are trying to hammer Biden over this. At issue, was Hunter Biden profiting off his dad’s work as vice president and did Joe Biden allow it? We’re talking about millions of dollars in at least two countries.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Hunter Biden’s Foreign Deals; Did Joe Biden’s Son Profit Off Father’s Position as Vice President?]
Mr. Vice president, Tom Llamas with ABC News. How you doing? Got a quick question for you.
It’s a question we tried to ask repeatedly.
Can we ask you about Ukraine and China?!
But kept getting blocked. Questions about foreign deals his son Hunter Biden pursued.
HUNTER BIDEN: My father, Joe Biden.
LLAMAS: In countries where Joe Biden was working as America’s top diplomat. In 2014, Ukrainians, sick of corruption, revolted. Vice President Joe Biden went to Kiev to help the new government.
JOE BIDEN: You have to fight the cancer of corruption.
LLAMAS: But then, something strange happened. Just three weeks later a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma, accused of corruption, appoints Hunter Biden, seen here in their promotional videos, to their board of directors, paying his firm more than a million dollars a year. Hunter, a lawyer, who had just been discharged from the Navy Reserves for testing positive for cocaine.
He had served on other boards, but had no known experience in Ukraine or natural gas. We went to Kiev and found even among Joe Biden’s supporters in Ukraine, Hunter’s hiring was troubling. How do you judge what Hunter Biden was doing?
DARIA KALENIUK [ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTION CENTRE]: I think that Hunter Biden did a very bad thing and he was very wrong. He allowed his name to be abused.
LLAMAS: And Ukraine wasn’t the only country where Hunter Biden’s business and his father’s diplomacy as vice president intersected. It also happened in China. This video shows Chinese diplomats greeting Vice President Biden as he arrived in Beijing in December of 2013. Right by his side, his son Hunter. Less than two weeks later, Hunter’s firm had new business, creating an investment fund in China, involving the government-controlled Bank of China. With reports they hoped to raise $1.5 billion. Hunter still plays a role in the fund. His lawyer says his stake is worth about half a million dollars. Both Hunter and his lawyers say he never discussed any of this overseas work with his father.
But even a critic of the current president and his children’s business dealings says this –
ROBERT WEISSMAN [PRESIDENT, PUBLIC CITIZEN]: He should have encouraged his son to not take these positions.
LLAMAS: Biden’s campaign team told us that the Vice President “acted at all times in a manner consistent with well established executive branch ethics standards.” One person who did not want to talk about it, Joe Biden.
Mr. Vice president, what’s your take on that? Was there a conflict of interest there? Was there a clear conflict of interest?
Now in response to our questions the Biden campaign, for the first time, is announcing if he’s elected he will invoke a new ethics policy on his first day of office that would empower White House lawyers to monitor for any types of conflicts of interest. Now, Hunter Biden did not want to comment on camera. He says he was brought into Burisma, that Ukrainian company that was facing the corruption charges, to help with its transparency and corporate responsibility. So far no charges have been brought against Burisma, so far.
MUIR: But these questions aren’t going to go away. So in the meantime, is he still on the board for that company in Ukraine?
LLAMAS: It’s a good question, David. So the same month Joe Biden announces he’s going to run for president, Hunter Biden tells us his term on the board expired. He says with the current political climate he’s decided not to renew.
MUIR: Alright, Tom Llamas investigating this morning. Thanks, Tom.
