Joe Biden Took 'Half' of Hunter's Salary While VP, Leaked Emails Show
Hunter paid thousands in house repairs and other payments for then-vice president father
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Joe Biden's son Hunter complained that he was forced to hand over "half" of his salary to pay his father's bills while he was vice president, leaked emails have revealed.
The revelation casts doubt on Joe Biden's previous claims that he's never benefited from his son's business dealings.
The bills included tens of thousands in repairs on Joe and Jill Biden's lakeside mansion in Wilmington, Delaware, and a $190-a-month AT&T phone bill.
The payments were described in an email by Hunter Biden from 2010 when Joe Biden was earning $225,000-a-year as Obama's vice president.
Joe Biden was already a multi-millionaire by this point and had been earning over $100,000-a-year for decades prior as a senator and author.
However, Hunter suggested in emails that he was supporting his father financially, despite the then-vice president's obvious wealth.
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At the time, Hunter was working as the interim CEO of Paradigm Global Advisors and he'd also founded the investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners.
He joined Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings on its board in 2014, while Joe was serving as VP and overseeing U.S. policy in Ukraine.
Joe has always insisted that he neither set up nor benefited from Hunter's international business relationships while he was vice president, but the leaked emails suggest otherwise.
The claims were found on the laptop that Hunter, 51, allegedly abandoned at a Delaware computer shop and then recovered by the FBI, the contents of which were leaked last year.
The allegations about having to pay his father came in text messages between Hunter and his daughter, Naomi, 27, according to the New York Post.
"I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years," a text Hunter reportedly wrote in 2019 said.
"It's really hard. But don't worry, unlike Pop [Joe Biden], I won't make you give me half your salary."
The outlet reported that there was no direct evidence of this type of wealth transfer found on the laptop.
Emails found on the laptop do, however, show evidence of Hunter being propositioned about the best way to pay thousands of dollars owed for repairs to his father's properties back in 2010, according to The Sun.
Emails from June 2010 from Hunter's business partner, Eric Schwerin, show that Hunter was hit up about bills from several Delaware contractors for maintenance at his father's lakefront property.
The bills that month included $2,600 to contractor Earle Downing for a "stone retaining wall" at the president's Wilmington estate, $1,475 to a painter for work on the "back wall and columns" of the house, and $1,239 for repairs to air conditioning at the cottage of the president's late mother, according to the Post.
"FYI, there are a few outstanding bills that need to be paid and I am not sure which ones are a priority and which should get paid out of 'my' account and which should be put on hold or paid out of the 'Wilmington Trust Social Security Check Account,'" Schwerin wrote in the email to Hunter.
He then says there is "about $2,000 extra in 'my' account beyond what is used for monthly expenses."
It's unclear why Schwerin was putting "my" in quotation marks in his emails.
A few days later, Schwerin wrote to Hunter again that one of the contractors was "hassling me so I am paying a couple of the smaller things since I haven't heard from your Dad.
"Know he's busy -- so it's OK," he continued.
"But if you think he has a moment or two to review the email I sent you let me know."
Schwerin wrote another email in July about getting in contact with Biden to discuss his future wealth management, according to the Post's report.
The FBI launched an investigation into Hunter last December after the Post published files on a laptop he put in for repair.
They revealed details of his business dealings in Ukraine and China, as well as a now-famous picture of him smoking crack.
Hunter claimed he may have been hacked by Russians but Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said Hunter “lied” about the laptop and there’s “no doubt” that it was his.
Kilmeade said: “He knows exactly that it’s his laptop.
"It even had a Beau Biden foundation sticker on it.
“It was his laptop, dropped off with all his personal information.
"There is no doubt about it."
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The emails showed Hunter was employed by a Ukrainian oil and gas giant and was asked to use his influence with his father, who was VP at the time.
One email suggested that on at least one occasion Hunter arranged a meeting between Joe Biden and Burisma boss Vadym Pozharskyi.
A spokesperson for Joe Biden denied any such meeting.
Other documents detailed payments from a company in China and suggested some was intended for other Biden family members.
Hunter and Joe denied any impropriety.
