Hunter Biden Claims to Oversight Committee He Was ‘Drunk, High’ When He Messaged Chinese Businessman

The GOP's key witness in his father's impeachment case, Hunter Biden, clarified that he was "drunk or probably high" when he sent a message that has come under suspicion.

On February 28, Republicans on Capitol Hill drilled down into Hunter Biden's foreign business activities, which they have depicted as President Joe Biden's crooked network of illicit business activities, per The Hill. A WhatsApp message that Hunter allegedly wrote to Chinese businessman Henry Zhao in July 2017, six months after his father resigned as vice president, is a significant piece of correspondence that Republicans have taken into their investigation.

The message said that Hunter's father Joe Biden was “sitting next” to Hunter at the time and discussed a business agreement that Hunter claimed had not been honored, per Mediaite. Republicans assert that the correspondence invalidates the Bidens' statement that Joe Biden has had no involvement with his son's company.

When questioned about this WhatsApp message, Hunter stated he doesn't remember sending it, most likely because he was dealing with addiction at the time. He testified that his father could not have been seated next to him since his father was not involved, adding that if he did, he is now “embarrassed” by it. "I would say two things about this message. The first thing is that the Zhao that this is sent to is not the Zhao that was connected to [Chinese energy conglomerate] CEFC," he said.

"The fact of the matter is, is that there’s no other text message that you have in which I say anything remotely to this. And I was out of my mind. I can also tell you this: My father was not sitting next to me. My father had no awareness. My father had no awareness of the business that I was doing. My father never benefited from any of the business that I was doing. And so, I take full responsibility for being an absolute ass and idiot when I sent this message, if I did send this message," the devoted son opened up.

Biden clarified that it was a different Zhao unrelated to the supposed business dealings and said that he had misdirected the message to Henry Zhao. Voicing frustration with the IRS report, Hunter claimed that the messages are confusing two separate Zhaos, Raymond and Henry, considering Zhao is a common last name in China. Biden confessed his error of judgment, attributing it to being "drunk and probably high," but stressed that the report was deceptive.

"They’re two different messages. The Zhao that calls me is not related to the message that was sent. I speak to him the next day. They’re two completely different sets of messages. One goes a number because, I made the Goddamn — excuse my language again — because I made like an idiot, and I was drunk and probably high, sent a — this ridiculous message to a Zhao, to a Henry Zhao. But then the next day, I speak to a Raymond Zhao, who has never received the message that Henry Zhao got. And so that’s why this report is very misleading in many ways," the transcript from the Committee reads.