The New York Times has added a correction to its article about Hunter Biden's statements at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday when he defied a congressional subpoena for a closed-door deposition, insisting on an open hearing instead.
"An earlier version of this article misquoted Hunter Biden," the correction, added to the bottom of the original story, explains. "He said, 'My father was not financially involved in my business,' not, 'My father was not involved in my business.'"
In his full comments, the president's son told reporters that he wanted to "State as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business — not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist.”
The use of the word "financially" has become a sticking point, including on Thursday, when Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigation, accused CNN's Phil Mattingly of promoting Republican talking points when he was asked if Hunter used the "financially involved" language intentionally.
"I dispute the premise of that question," Sams said, comparing it to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan's "favorite little shiny objects to try to take a semantic thing and make an argument that is somehow far afield of what they're focused on."
"We've been extremely clear over and over again for years and nothing has changed," Sams added. "The president was not in business with his son, period. They're trying to make up all sorts of allegations … the truth is that he wasn't in business with his son."
Further, Sams accused Republicans of playing "semantic games" to distract from "the actual truth," and said that any allegations against the president have been "debunked."
In a joint statement after Hunter Biden's comments, Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said that rather than participating in a deposition, the president's son "chose to make a public statement on Capitol Hill instead, where he said his father, Joe Biden, was not financially involved in his family's business dealings."
"Exactly how was Joe Biden involved?" they said. "Evidence shows Joe Biden met with Hunter's business associates and his name was at the center of the family business strategy."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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