Biden Aide in Crosshairs as Links to Hunter Scandal Emerge
U.S. Attorney Robert Hur has been appointed as the special counsel to investigate whether any person or entity had violated the law in connection with the documents found at the residence of former Joe Biden.
The documents were reportedly placed in folders that were transferred by a small team led by one of Biden’s executive assistants, Ting-Yi Chung, at the end of the Obama administration and eventually made their way to a transition office, then to a temporary location in Chinatown leased by the Penn Biden Center before they arrived there. On January 4th of this year, federal agents interviewed her regarding her involvement with the documents.
According to The Washington Post, Chung expressed surprise upon learning that classified records might have been left in the vice-presidential office since it was standard procedure to immediately return such materials following a briefing from national security or intelligence aides. She also stated that she did not check the folders prior to packing them up since she had a top-secret security clearance at the time.
Chung admitted that she got her job working for Biden thanks to Hunter Biden who she worked with at the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1990s and contacted her about an opportunity when she was working as scheduling director for Sen. Mark Udall. Before long, on June 13, Chung sent an email confirming that his father offered her a job as an assistant which she accepted with great enthusiasm and gratitude.
“Thanks for calling and thinking of me,” Chung said in an email addressed to Hunter Biden on May 14 of that year, according to Fox News. “After the initial shock of taking in what you said … how could I pass up an opportunity to work for the Vice President of the United State [sic]!!!!”
Hunter Biden is currently under investigation due to several suspicious business dealings including his foreign business connections which raised concerns regarding influence peddling and potential access he may have had to areas where classified documents were located. Furthermore, emails discovered on an abandoned laptop believed to belong to Hunter reveal he kept communication with Chung ever since she began working for his father, which includes messages about attending State Department luncheon honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping and even suggesting Chung join him and his business partners in February 2017.
When asked if he takes any blame for mishandling of documents, Joe Biden simply replied “No.” Despite this statement however, it remains unclear how such sensitive materials ended up being stored outside the White House premises without proper authorization or knowledge from higher authorities.