Politics
Tony Bobulinski’s Lawyer Slams Jamie Raskin’s Effort To ‘Smear And Defame’ His Client In The Press
President Joe Biden hugs his family during the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)
The attorney representing a former business partner of Hunter Biden wrote to House Oversight and Accountability Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin on Wednesday slamming the lawmaker for attempting to “smear and defame” his client through the press.
Raskin wrote a Tuesday letter deriding Tony Bobulinski’s behavior during a Feb. 13 interview with investigators, asserting that Bobulinski “did not offer any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden” or “any evidence that President Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings.” Stefan Passantino, who represents Bobulinski, rebutted Raskin’s claims, arguing that his client offered ample evidence during the interview to support allegations that Joe Biden illegally engaged in his son’s business dealings, contradicting the claims of Raskin’s Feb. 20 letter that served as the focus of an ABC News piece containing at least one factual error.
“I am in receipt of your correspondence of February 20, 2024, which appears to have been shared with ABC News in an attempt to smear and defame my client before it was transmitted to me. In his opening statement, my client Tony Bobulinski implored the members of the House Oversight Committee and the Committee on the Judiciary to set aside their partisan identities for one brief moment to focus on the facts Mr. Bobulinski is called upon to provide. You and your colleagues are utterly failing that test, failing to meet the moment, and failing the American people,” Passantino wrote to Raskin.
“I am shocked and disgusted that you or anyone else would question his motives, patriotism or sincerity when you dishonestly assert that Mr. Bobulinski ‘did not offer any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden’ or ‘provide any evidence that President Biden was involved in his family’s business dealings,'” he continued. “You know this is false — and the American people can see for themselves that your allegations are false now that the transcript of Mr. Bobulinski’s testimony has been released by the House Oversight Committee and the Committee on the Judiciary.”
Bobulinski Lawyer Raskin Le… by Nick Pope
Bobulinski testified that China successfully endeavored to “infiltrate and compromise” the Biden family and the Obama White House via Hunter Biden’s business dealings, providing detailed explanations about what he saw and experienced during the period of his life in which he was involved in business with Hunter Biden. Passantino’s 15-page response to Raskin draws heavily on the transcript of his client’s interview with investigators, including text messages and emails that suggest Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business.
Passantino sharply criticized Raskin for asserting that his client’s interview with lawmakers was “chaotic to the point of burlesque,” saying that it was Democratic legislators and their staffs who acted inappropriately during the proceedings. GOP sources who were in the room previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the conduct of Democrats, including Raskin, was “absurd and childish” and “truly an embarrassment to the institution.”
Passantino also noted that Raskin’s Feb. 20 letter — in which Raskin stated that Bobulinski had some degree of partisan motivation for speaking out against the Biden family and falsely accused numerous individuals and organizations of lying about the subject at hand — appears to have been shared with ABC News before it was sent to Passantino.
The ABC News piece initially erroneously claimed that it was Bobulinksi who wrote the now-infamous May 2017 email proposing an equity split that would include “a 10% cut for the ‘the big guy,'” an archived version of the story shows. James Gilliar, another former Hunter Biden business associate, wrote that email, not Bobulinski, the Hunter Biden laptop archive shows.
Chinese Firm Paid Hunter And James Biden Millions For Attempting To Secure US Energy Deals, Testimony Shows https://t.co/YheAiKZFWL
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 8, 2024
The DCNF reached out to ABC News to see if the outlet intended to issue a correction regarding the sender of the “10 held by H for the big guy” email. The article had not been corrected as of this story’s publication, but the outlet subsequently issued an editor’s note to clarify that it was not Bobulinski who sent the email.
The ABC News piece also references the Jan. 26 testimony of Rob Walker, another former Hunter Biden partner, to convey that nobody responded to the email outlining a proposed equity split. However, contrary to Walker’s testimony, there were several responses to that message, according to the laptop archive. ABC News also appears to have updated this aspect of its story to add more context, though there is no mention of doing so in the editor’s note.
“It would appear to me that if we are indeed interested in joining together to ensure the American public has the opportunity to judge the credibility and demeanor of all involved witnesses, we should join together to call upon Chairman Comer and Chairman Jordan to convene a live hearing, under oath, at which Mr. Bobulinski, the Biden family, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Gilliar are all present to answer the same questions on these matters of national importance,” Passantino’s letter concludes.
Raskin’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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