James Biden: My Brother Wasn't Involved in Family Deals

President Biden "never had any involvement" in the business dealings of other members of his family, his brother James Biden testified Wednesday as he appeared for a voluntary private interview on Capitol Hill as part of House Republicans' impeachment inquiry. "I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures," James Biden said in an opening statement to lawmakers obtained by the AP. "Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities. None."

• The interview with James Biden is the latest in a series that GOP lawmakers have conducted as they seek to rebuild momentum for an impeachment process surrounding the Biden family's overseas finances that has stalled in recent months. The GOP investigation was undercut again last week when an FBI informant who claimed there was a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the president, son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company was charged with fabricating the story.
• "With my appearance here today, the committees will have the information to conclude that the negative and destructive assumptions about me and my relationship with my brother Joe are wrong," James Biden said in his statement. "There is no basis for this inquiry to continue." But Republicans have pushed back on the Biden family's defense, saying the evidence they have gathered since early last year paints a troubling picture of "influence peddling," particularly with international clients.
• Hunter Biden is expected to give a deposition next week.

(More James Biden stories.)