Questions Swirl As Healthcare Company Tied To Joe Bidens Brother Raided By The FBI

Here's more, from Fox News:

A new report reveals legal problems and allegations of possible fraud involving former Vice President Joe Biden’s brother James, in the latest instance of the Democratic primary front-runner’s family members’ dealings drawing scrutiny amid his presidential bid.

According to Politico, James Biden’s business with medical companies – including Americore Health – has led to allegations that he potentially engaged in fraud and traded on his brother’s name, by claiming Joe was interested in the venture and the family name could provide opportunities.

“It was all smoke and mirrors,” former Americore Health executive Tom Pritchard told Politico. James Biden reportedly convinced Americore that he could use his political clout to deliver a significant influx of cash in the form of an investment from the Middle East, and even convinced the company to take on financial burdens including a six-figure loan to James that he has yet to repay.

James Biden, Americore and Americore founder Grant White are among those now facing a lawsuit from medical companies in Tennessee federal court accusing them of fraud over alleged promises made. Biden and the other defendants have denied any wrongdoing, but the plaintiffs last month reportedly said in a court filing that they were willing to drop their claims against White, who had provided exculpatory evidence as well as information that further implicated Biden and others.

James Biden’s attorney George Mesires did not immediately respond to a request from Fox News for comment.

Americore is also in bankruptcy court after financial woes that, Pritchard said, James Biden only made worse. In January, the FBI also raided an Americore hospital in Pennsylvania, one of a series of legal complications the company has faced. As noted by Politico, there's no indication the raid was linked to James Biden's actions and he has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.

According to the report, James Biden introduced White to his brother. The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment but had confirmed to Politico that White had bought a ticket to a Beau Biden Foundation event in 2017. Any meeting between White and the former vice president “would have been a handshake and nothing more,” they said. The campaign also claimed that Joe Biden never showed support for Americore or even discussed it with his brother.

James Biden is the latest member of the Biden family whose business ventures have surfaced as Joe Biden progresses towards possibly becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.

The former vice president’s son Hunter made national headlines after President Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to assist an investigation into Joe Biden's role ousting a prosecutor who had been looking into Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings where Hunter had a lucrative board position. Joe Biden has admitted to being instrumental in the termination of the Ukrainian prosecutor but insists it had nothing to do with his son. Trump’s discussions with Zelensky led to his impeachment – and subsequent acquittal – while Hunter Biden remains of interest to Senate Republicans looking to further investigate the matter.

Even Politico had this to say:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided a health care business linked to Joe Biden’s brother in late January, seizing boxes of documents.

The raid of an Americore Health hospital represented a deepening of the legal morass surrounding James Biden’s recent venture into health care investing at a time when questions about the business dealings of Joe Biden’s relatives, and their alleged connection to the former vice president’s public service, continue to dog his presidential campaign.

In the weeks since the raid, two small medical firms that did business with James Biden have claimed in civil court proceedings to have obtained evidence that he may have fraudulently transferred funds from Americore “outside of the ordinary course of business,” and a former Americore executive has told POLITICO that James Biden had more than half a million dollars transferred to him from the firm as a personal loan that has not yet been repaid.

The purpose of the Jan. 30 raid of an Ellwood City, Pa., hospital remains unclear, and there is no indication it was related to the actions of Biden’s younger brother, who has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. Its owner, Americore, has faced legal problems and allegations of mismanagement that are unrelated to James Biden.

But recent filings in ongoing legal proceedings, along with new accounts provided to POLITICO by former executives of Americore and others, point to potential pitfalls for the former vice president, painting the fullest picture to date of James Biden’s health care dealings and the ways in which they allegedly related to his older brother. In 2017 and 2018, James Biden was embarking on a foray into health care investing, telling potential partners, including at Americore, that his last name could open doors and that Joe Biden was excited about the public policy implications of their business models, according to court filings and interviews with James' former business contacts. 

Tom Pritchard, a former Americore executive familiar with the business' finances, told POLITICO that James Biden’s arrival exacerbated Americore’s financial problems. Holding out the promise of a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections, James Biden introduced Americore’s founder to his older brother and helped land a bridge loan to Americore from a hedge fund, Pritchard said. But then, Pritchard said, James Biden received a six-figure personal loan out of Americore’s coffers while encouraging the firm to take on greater financial liabilities. The cash infusion from the Middle East never arrived, and, Pritchard says, James Biden has not paid back the loan, the terms of which are unknown. “It was all smoke and mirrors,” Pritchard said.

Meanwhile, Americore found itself increasingly hamstrung by high-interest loans and unable to pay employees and vendors, a situation that disrupted the operations of the rural hospitals it owns.Now, the business is in bankruptcy court, and federal authorities are circling. David Randolph Smith, an attorney for James Biden, declined to comment.A Biden campaign official said that Joe Biden never discussed Americore with his brother or expressed support for the business. The official said that Americore’s founder, Grant White, purchased a ticket to a September 2017 fundraiser for the Beau Biden Foundation, an event attended by Joe Biden. “If the two interacted in any way, it would have been a handshake and nothing more,” the official said. 

The messy politics surrounding the business dealings of Biden’s relatives, and President Donald Trump’s efforts to exploit them, have loomed over the presidential contest for several months, damaging both camps. Trump’s failed attempts to pressure Ukraine’s government to announce an investigation of Biden and his son, Hunter, led to Trump’s impeachment. Though Trump was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, polls showed that a plurality of Americans consistently supported the impeachment, which highlighted evidence that Trump abused his power for partisan political ends. At the same time, a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found that 57 percent of voters believe Hunter Biden’s well-compensated position on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm amounted to a scandal, compared to 19 percent who do not.