A mockup of a text message allegedly showing Hunter Biden refer to President Joe Biden while messaging a Chinese business partner has become the latest standoff between House Republicans and the lawyers representing the president’s son, who claim that the copy of a screenshot is a “complete” fake.
GOP lawmakers have increased their scrutiny over Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings following a plea deal offered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) this month, in which the president’s son is set to plead guilty in late July to two misdemeanor tax crimes after a years-long federal investigation. Republicans have called the agreement a “slap on the wrist,” pointing to recent testimony from IRS whistleblowers who claim that federal prosecutors were impeded while probing Hunter Biden’s tax history.
Last week, Republicans on the House Ways and Means committee released transcripts of the whistleblowers’ testimonies, including from IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, who spoke under oath about purported WhatsApp messages he had obtained sent by Hunter Biden, including one from 2017 that demanded payment from Henry Zhao, a Chinese businessman.
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A copy of the message was also shared to Twitter by Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith over the weekend, in which Hunter Biden suggests that he’s sitting next to President Biden and allegedly writes, “I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.”
Another mockup of the text message was presented by Ways and Means at a press conference last week, and was shared to Twitter by committee member and North Carolina Congressman Greg Murphy.
Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell wrote to Smith a week later that the images “circulated online are complete fakes,” according to a letter obtained by NBC News, pointing to inconsistencies in the picture with traditional WhatsApp messaging.
However, a spokesperson for Ways and Means told Newsweek on Friday that the photo was never intended to mimic a real screenshot, and that the message contained in the markup is directly from Shapley’s testimony about Hunter Biden’s alleged message.
“It’s little surprise that Hunter Biden’s attorneys are attempting to chill our investigation and discredit the whistleblowers who say they have already faced retaliation from the IRS and the Department of Justice despite statutory protections established by law,” Smith said in a statement on following reports of Lowell’s letter. “These whistleblowers bravely came forward with allegations about misconduct and preferential treatment for Hunter Biden–and now face attacks even from an army of lawyers he hired.”
Lowell argued that the copy of Hunter Biden’s text included a photo of the president’s son from the White House Easter Egg roll in April 2022, well after when the message was supposedly sent in 2017.
The attorney added that, “both images portray the message in a blue bubble, when WhatsApp messages are in green; one image super-imposed the Chinese flag for the contact ID, when surely that was not how a text or contact was kept; and one purports to be a screenshot with the ‘…’ of someone composing a text (as in Apple‘s iMessage) when that does not happen on WhatsApp.”
“These interviews were orchestrated recitations of mischaracterized and incomplete ‘facts’ by disgruntled agents who believed they knew better than the federal prosecutors who had all the evidence as they conducted their five-year investigation of Mr. Biden,” Lowell wrote, according to the report from NBC News.
The DOJ has denied Shapley’s claims, stating that U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who led the probe of Hunter Biden’s taxes, had the authority to bring an indictment if he thought it was warranted.
Several Republicans have brought accusations against President Biden over alleged corruption and bribery deals while he served as vice president under the administration of former President Barack Obama. However, Democrats argue that the accusations lack substantial evidence.
Newsweek has reached out to Lowell’s office via email for comment.
