Rep. James Comer on Biden think tank's potential ties to China: 'This is unprecedented'
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the Biden classified documents controversy and his think tank's possible ties to China.
A former top aide to President Biden — who reportedly was questioned by federal investigators as part of the probe into the president's handling of classified documents — exchanged emails with Hunter Biden on numerous occasions, according to a Fox News Digital review.
Kathy Chung, Biden's executive assistant when he was vice president and the Pentagon's current deputy director of protocol, is among several former aides to the president to be interviewed by law enforcement, NBC News reported Thursday. Chung and the others questioned reportedly helped move materials and belongings from Biden's office at the end of the Obama administration in early 2017.
Throughout much of her five-year tenure working for Biden during the Obama administration, Chung regularly communicated with Biden's son Hunter Biden, transmitting information about his father's schedule and passing messages directly from the then-vice president, according to emails obtained from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and verified by Fox News Digital.
Chung's relationship with Hunter Biden also appears to date back before she worked for his father. The emails showed that Hunter Biden recommended Chung for the executive assistant role when the previous holder of the job, Michele Smith, departed the White House in the spring of 2012.
HUNTER BIDEN, CHINA, CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS: MYSTERY SWIRLS AROUND PENN BIDEN CENTER
Hunter Biden is pictured during his father President Biden's innauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"Thanks for calling and thinking of me," Chung wrote to Hunter Biden on May 14, 2012. "After the initial shock of taking in what you said...how could I pass up an opportunity to work for the Vice President of the United State!!!! I do have a few questions. What is Michelle's primary job? I think I know what the job would entail, minus the scheduling part, which is a huge part of what I do now. But what would be my top 3 - 5 responsibilities be in the office? Do you know the salary? Again, thanks for thinking of me."
At the time, Chung worked in former Sen. Mark Udall's, D-Colo., office as his scheduling director. She previously worked for Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, who was appointed to replace Biden in the Senate in 2009 and is a longtime confidante of Biden dating back decades.
In response to her message, Hunter Biden responded later that day saying that the job would make her the primary gatekeeper of Biden's and would be "involved in everything that goes on outside of policy."
Kathy Chung and Hunter Biden discuss an opening for then-Vice president Biden's executive assistant position in May 2012. (Fox News)
"Call if/when you want me to tell Dad you are interested and I'm sure Michele would also want to talk to you at some point," he added. "I don't know who else they were considering but I thought you would be great."
One month later, on June, 13, 2012, Chung emailed Hunter Biden informing him that she had been offered the job.
"I cannot thank you enough for thinking about me and walking me thru this," she said. "What an incredible opportunity! Thanks, Hunter!!"
Kathy Chung informs Hunter Biden that then-Vice President Biden had selected her to be his executive assistant in June 2012. (Fox News Digital)
Dozens of additional emails between Chung and Biden's son showed various levels of correspondence between the two.
In one instance from October 2015, Hunter Biden and Chung communicated to schedule a meeting with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Fox News Digital previously reported that Hunter arranged a video conference with his father and Slim, with whom Hunter was seeking to do business with at the time, on Oct. 30, 2015.
In another instance from earlier that year, Chung sent Hunter and other members of the Biden family an invitation to attend a State Department luncheon hosted by his father honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Kathy Chung invited Biden family members to attend State Department luncheon honoring Chinese President Xi in September 2015 (Fox News Digital)
Hunter Biden and Chung even communicated at times about birthday gifts for relatives and assisting friends' children with college admittance.
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In February 2017, after Biden had left the White House, Hunter Biden suggested that Chung, who appears to have continued working for the former vice president after the Obama administration, should come work with him and his business partners Eric Schwerin and Joan Mayer.
"Actually work 'for' me and ‘with’ Eric…Actually do actual 'work' with Eric and Joan and so that I can make everyone money…actually just make all of you and Kathleen money and none for me," he wrote to Chung, referring to his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle. "Sounds fun right!"
Hunter Biden tells Kathy Chung she should work for him in February 2017, adding that he can "make everyone money." (Fox News Digital)
And on multiple occasions, the pair coordinated schedules for meetings with former University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann. Shortly after taking office, the president selected Gutmann to be the U.S. ambassador to Germany.
"VP will be meeting with President Guttman on Friday, Jan. 8, 11:00 am, at the Lake house in DE," Chung wrote in an email to Hunter Biden, other family members and several White House officials in January 2016. "VP hopes that you will be able to join him for this meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!!"
After Chung invited Hunter Biden to another meeting with Gutmann in April 2016, he suggested in a follow-up message to his business partner that he may need to reschedule a previously-scheduled meeting with the prime minister of the Ivory Coast. He added that "the Guttman mtg is a must attend for me per Dad."
Hunter Biden informs his business partner that he would need to reschedule a meeting with the Ivory Coast prime minister to attend a meeting with his father and former University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann. (Fox News Digital)
Gutmann, meanwhile, participated at the ceremony marking the grand opening of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, the president's think tank in Washington, D.C., in 2018.
"President Gutmann, when you came to me before the [Obama] administration was up and asked me whether I [would] consider to be a professor at Penn, the first thought I had was that it sounded like an intriguing idea, but it became even more intriguing after the outcome of the [2016] election when you said I could bring along with me some serious, serious people," Biden said during the opening ceremony in February 2018.
"Serious staff people and much more than staff and they start with Tony Blinken and Steve Ricchetti and others, so thank you for allowing me to bring along some really, really bright people," he added.
On Monday, the White House revealed that a series of classified documents dating back to Biden's time as vice president had been discovered at the Penn Biden Center. Some of the documents were classified as top-secret.
Then, on Thursday, the White House acknowledged a second batch of classified documents were found in the garage of Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden’s lawyer, Richard Sauber, responded to Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of Robert Hur as special counsel Thursday, saying, "As the President said, he takes classified information and materials seriously, and as we have said, we have cooperated from the moment we informed the [National] Archives that a small number of documents were found, and we will continue to cooperate."
"We have cooperated closely with the Justice Department throughout its review, and we will continue that cooperation with the Special Counsel," Sauber said.
"We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake," he added.
"I'm going to get the chance to speak on all of this, God willing it'll be soon, but I said earlier this week — and by the way my Corvette is in a locked garage. It's not like it's sitting out in the street," Biden told Fox News' Peter Doocy on Thursday.
"So the documents were in a locked garage," Doocy noted.
"Yes, as well as my Corvette. But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously," Biden responded. "I also said we're cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department's review."
Biden's aides have been searching additional locations where Biden could have possibly brought more classified documents from his time as vice president in the Obama administration, The New York Times reported.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that the search for documents is complete.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder referred all questions about Chung’s interview with investigators to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice didn't respond to a request for comment.
Hunter Biden's attorney and Chung did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital media inquiry.
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