RUTHFULLY YOURS

Congressional investigators claim to have strong evidence that President Joe Biden and his family received a staggering $20 million or more in payments from foreign sources while he served as vice president under Barack Obama. If proven true, two-thirds of Americans say that Biden should either resign or be impeached, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll indicates.

The accusation of possible bribery is serious. And a key House investigative panel says it has evidence, mostly bank statements, to back up claims that Biden took money from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

“The tally of foreign money to the Biden family has hit at least $20 million, based on the third round of bank records the House Oversight and Accountability Committee released Wednesday — pointing to millions from oligarchs from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine,” reported the Daily Signal.

In its latest monthly sounding of public opinion, the national online I&I//TIPP Poll of 1,369 voters, taken Aug. 2-4, asked Americans, what should be done if the allegations prove true?

A significant 67% majority responded that Biden should either “resign immediately” (24%) or “be impeached and removed from office” (43%). Those supporting more lenient treatment totaled just 23%, with 15% saying Biden should “be allowed to finish his term in office, but not run again,” and 8% supporting “run again in 2024, regardless of the findings.”

Another 10% responded “not sure.” The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.7 percentage points.

It’s no surprise that the anti-Biden “resign/impeach” sentiment was strongest among Republicans (89%) and independents (71%). But even a near-majority of 50% of Democrats said that if the charges were true Biden should either resign or be impeached.

Indeed, within every major demographic group — by race, region, gender, income, age, education, you name it — a majority said the allegation of bribery would require Biden’s removal from office, either through resignation or impeachment.

That said, impeachment was least popular among Democrats (28%), compared to GOP voters (61%) and independents (47%). So, clearly, even Biden’s own party is hoping that further clear evidence of Biden family bribery would lead to the president making a quick exit, and not force an impeachment proceeding during a critical election year.

This month’s poll further bolsters the results of a similar question I&I/TIPP asked in July, which found: “A strong majority of 63% in our poll suggested that President Joe Biden should either be impeached (33%) or resign immediately (30%) if the charges prove true. Just 20% said Biden should ‘Stay in office and run again in 2024, if he wishes.’ Another 17% said they weren’t sure.”

In short, the 80-year-old Biden’s political future will almost certainly be decided by the outcome of Congress’ multiple investigations into allegations of his financial misconduct while in government.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has revealed that Biden used a pseudonym, “Robert L. Peters,” to set up an official government email account. To those who knew, he could be reached at “Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov.” He used two other aliases: “JRB Ware” and “Robin Ware.”

That, in itself, is not illegal.

However, as blogger and law professor Glenn Reynolds points out, “The only reason to run such an account is to make sure that the emails don’t get archived in official systems and aren’t available under the Freedom of Information Act, and to keep the communications out of the reach of critics, and possibly law enforcement.”

Comer was a bit more blunt about the latest revelation: “Joe Biden has stated there was ‘an absolute wall’ between his family’s foreign business schemes and his duties as vice president, but evidence reveals that access was wide open for his family’s influence peddling,” he said in a statement.

What’s known about the emails sent under three aliases appears damning.

As the New York Post has reported:

Then-Vice President Biden emailed Hunter under the aliases ‘Robin Ware,’ ‘Robert L. Peters’ and ‘JRB Ware’ between 2014 and 2016, keeping his son abreast of scheduled talks with then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Kyiv Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, among other communications The Post first revealed in 2021.

The elder Biden had one of his aides, John Flynn, send his daily schedule to the private email address ‘Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov’ at least 10 times between May 18 and June 15, 2016, copying Hunter on a May 26 message with a note about an ‘8.45am prep for 9am phonecall [sic] with Pres Poroshenko.’

So these were not merely personal emails. Biden was transacting business under his pseudonymous email addresses.

These are only the latest revelations among many, including the bank records mentioned above, that clearly record millions of dollars in transactions from foreign sources flowing into accounts controlled by Biden family members and more than 20 shell companies.

With growing evidence of direct White House involvement in the recent federal and local indictments against former President Donald Trump, and a long history of questionable activities stretching back decades, Biden could come under increased pressure from within his own party to step aside.

That’s especially true if polls continue to show popular disenchantment with a president who promised after his election in 2020: “I will not … use the Justice Department as my vehicle to insist that something happen.”

I&I/TIPP publishes timely, unique, and informative data each month on topics of public interest. TIPP’s reputation for polling excellence comes from being the most accurate pollster for the past five presidential elections.

Terry Jones is an editor of Issues & Insights. His four decades of journalism experience include serving as national issues editor, economics editor, and editorial page editor for Investor’s Business Daily.