Here's How The Biden Family Made a Fortune Using James Biden’s Shell Company ‘Lion Hall Group’

The FBI has tapes showing President Joe Biden's brother James Biden leveraging his brother's influence to negotiate commercial transactions, per a new report by the Washington Post. According to the tapes, Joe Biden's family used shell corporations, sold the "Biden brand," and amassed millions of dollars while he served in federal office. James Biden's work in the private sector as a hired consultant and political fixer has frequently overlapped with his brother Joe Biden's public duties during Joe Biden's 36 years in the Senate, eight years as vice president, and the current three years as president.

The latest revelation is particularly important as congressional Republicans look into whether President Biden aided the commercial dealings of his family members. The investigation has been centered on the president's son Hunter Biden for some months now, but James Biden's distinct contribution to his brother's life and profession has come to light as a result of the House Oversight Committee's recent demand for testimony from Sara and James Biden. The focus of the investigation is said to be Lion Hall, the business owned by James and Sara Biden, which was paid $100,000 for a shady deal.

“The Biden business earned $24 million between 2015 and 2019. The business used more than 20 shell companies,” the report noted. The study goes into depth about James Biden's relationships with Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a powerful trial lawyer, and how these ties intertwined with a federal inquiry that ultimately to Scruggs' demise. Scruggs allegedly paid James and Sara $100,000 in 1998 for advice on negotiating a historic agreement that required tobacco corporations to pay billions of dollars and said that he would not have engaged them if they had no links to then-Senator Joe Biden.

Biden eventually backed the plan, which did fail in Congress, but it raises questions about Biden's role in the arrangement. “Jim was never untoward about his influence,” Scruggs said. “He didn’t brag about it or talk about it. He didn’t have to. He was the man’s brother.”

Despite these discoveries, critics have emphasized that the narrative does not show Joe Biden's knowledge or participation in any suspected misconduct. None of the money goes back to Biden, only to some family member like Hunter or James, and there's no proof of Biden's knowledge, Washington Post reports. Furthermore, according to the Associated Press, House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) utilized a "shell company" for real estate interests, as did several of the "shell companies" implicated in his inquiry. 

Comer has been pointing to Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) focusing on "the Biden family," which mostly refers to Hunter Biden, for months. Many of the SARs contain "erroneous or unfounded claims," according to House Democrats, and none of them are about the president. “No evidence about Joe Biden’s unacceptable actions but, instead, that Joe Biden is somehow linked to a seedy universe of criminality — a link and a universe they’re still struggling to manifest,” the report concludes.