With controversy growing over then-Vice President Joe Biden’s email correspondence from 2009-17, the White House is refusing to release approximately 5,400 records into the public domain.
The latest revelations come after a Freedom of Information request to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) confirmed more than 5,000 emails had been sent by Biden using pseudonyms. The fake addresses included [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]., and were reportedly used to email contacts including Biden’s son Hunter.
Despite disclosure demands from the House Oversight Committee – the Republican-led collection of House Representatives investigating the President’s connections to his son’s foreign business dealings – to release the content of the emails, so far, little has been exposed other than what has been gathered from outside sources.
“Joe Biden has stated there was ‘an absolute wall’ between his family’s foreign business schemes and his duties as vice president, but evidence reveals that access was wide open for his family’s influence peddling,” committee chairman James Comer said earlier this month.
“We already have evidence of then-Vice President Biden speaking, dining, and having coffee with his son’s foreign business associates,” Comer added. “We also know that Hunter Biden and his associates were informed of then-Vice President Biden’s official government duties in countries where they had a financial interest. The National Archives must provide these unredacted records to further our investigation into the Biden family’s corruption.”
It All Relies On Evidence
A common theme throughout the HOC investigation has been a lack of conclusive evidence.
While the optics of dining with foreign oligarchs as vice president are not good, such actions are at least constitutionally acceptable.
For President Biden, keeping transparency to a minimum is perhaps best advised given the level of inquisition GOP lawmakers are prepared to go to.
After all, incriminating evidence – if it indeed exists – can lead to a politically damaging impeachment.
It’s a topic that has been subject to much debate within Republican circles, and skeptics are hesitant to launch an impeachment, which could be deemed politically motivated by moderate voters. That could, of course, change should convincing details emerge in the public domain.
Ultimately, we do not know the content of said correspondence.
Still, even if they are all legally compliant, conservatives will be sure to pick out the most controversial points for further probing.
Moreover, President Biden is gearing up for a re-election campaign. If released publicly, voters may question the emails’ content and make up their own minds – something Biden’s political opponents will be sure to capitalize on. It makes little sense for any politician to release more than what they want the voters to know.
Nevertheless, inaccessible emails played an important role the last time the Democrats lost an election; with Donald Trump the likely Republican nominee, there’s no reason why that can’t happen again.
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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