Hunter Biden’s prominent role is the first thing Democrats who want to take on Joe Biden will need to tackle.
Attention has been fixed on Jill Biden’s public vociferous endorsements of Joe able to serve out another term, but Hunter also accompanied the president back to Washington from debate prep at Camp David and gave his insight after the debate.
He is also reportedly serving as a “gatekeeper” to his father and helping with speechwriting, in addition to sitting in on meetings between senior staff. The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that he would be in the meetings.
Senior White House staff were surprised to learn Biden would be involved in the operation, with one saying, “What the hell is happening? ”
Worries over Hunter’s role have now percolated up to the House Intelligence Committee where Republican chairman Mike Turner frets whether Hunter is “receiving classified information.” Turner wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients seeking information on Hunter attendance at official meetings, including those involving classified material.
Hunter had a visible role at his father’s side during an East Room Medal of Honor ceremony, mingling with attendees and closely watching from the back.
Former associates say Hunter is brilliant, calculating, and a highly manipulative operator intent on both his own advancement and ensconcing power for his father.
“Knowing them on a familial level, they [will] have to be dragged out,” said one former friend.
“I think the Bidens are going to fight all the way into the ground,” said another. “[They] only give a s- -t about themselves and the Bidens.”
However, Hunter Biden’s recent court appearances have many in the party questioning his position. Emails from Hunter’s discarded laptop showed he was not a fan of the Obamas who, he believed, did little to honor his father for being Vice President.
Hunter wrote about his unease with the Obama White House in “Beautiful Things,” a 2021 memoir, citing what he felt was disrespect of his father.
