WASHINGTON – A disbarred Mississippi lawyer who served prison time for bribery told investigators in the House impeachment inquiry Thursday that he gave first brother James Biden $800,000 in loans but only got $400,000 back, presenting a new turn in wide-ranging research.
Joey Langston said in a closed-door deposition that he “does not have any documentation or record of any such loans,” according to a source familiar with his testimony.
Langston said he made four loans to James in 2016, one in 2017 and possibly others at additional times.
Langston unsuccessfully attempted to overturn his bribery conviction in court in 2016. It is unclear whether he sought a federal pardon from President Barack Obama during Obama’s final year in office.
Langston’s enormous financial aid to the then second brother introduces a new element of intrigue into the impeachment inquiry into alleged Biden family corruption.
Langston pleaded guilty in 2008 and was sentenced to three years in federal prison for being part of a plot to bribe a judge in a dispute over asbestos legal fees by promising to get the state jurist favorable consideration for a federal judgeship.
A disbarred attorney said Thursday that he gave his first brother James Biden $800,000 in loans, but only $400,000 was returned. AP
Langston’s alleged accomplice in that case, fellow Mississippi attorney Dickie Scruggs, was involved in a second prosecution for trying to bribe a different judge with $40,000, also in a dispute over legal fees.
James Biden was wiretapped by the FBI in 2007, when his brother was still a senator, as part of its investigation into the second bribery case, the Washington Post reported in December.
Amid the bribery conspiracy, James Biden, who was not charged in the case, was in talks with Scruggs and co-conspirator Tim Balducci about creating a law firm that would have employed himself, his nephew Hunter Biden and James’ wife, Sarah.
James Biden was in talks to create a law firm that would have employed him and Hunter Biden. AP
James Biden’s relationship with corrupt Mississippi lawyers has drawn attention in the past.
So Sen. Biden went from an opponent of federal legislation to penalize tobacco companies for lying about the addictiveness of their product to a supporter of the idea after Scruggs, the architect of a multimillion-dollar litigation scheme, paid the tobacco firm James Biden lobbying $100,000 in 1998, Washington reported. Informed publication.
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“I probably wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t the senator’s brother,” Scruggs told the newspaper.
Langston, who testified before Congress on Thursday, organized fundraisers for Joe Biden, ProPublica reported.
Scruggs took Joe Biden to a fundraising event on his private plane, the Washington Post reported.
Fellow Mississippi attorney Dickie Scruggs took Joe Biden to a fundraiser on his private plane. Annabelle Gordon/CNP/SplashNews.com
The confusion of the Biden family’s political and personal dealings in Mississippi resembles better-known facets of the impeachment inquiry, which has focused primarily on foreign businesses during Joe Biden’s vice presidency, as well as what two whistleblowers The IRS says it was a cover-up by the Department of Justice. to protect Joe and his first child Hunter from an investigation into tax fraud, money laundering and unregistered foreign lobbying.
Joe Biden has consistently claimed that he “never” discussed business with his son or brother and said in December that he “didn’t” interact with his partners. The evidence, including photographs, emails and witness statements, indicates that Biden actually interacted with associates of his son and brother from two business companies linked to the Chinese government and its sponsors from Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine.
James Biden, who transferred $240,000 to Joe Biden in 2017 and 2018 in alleged shady loan payments, has reportedly not been subtle about the business services he offered.
“We have people all over the world who want to invest in Joe Biden,” James allegedly said in the early 2000s when he and his nephew Hunter took over failed investment bank Paradigm, according to a 2021 book by Politico reporter Ben Schreckinger.
A lawyer for James Biden did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
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