The White House met with Hunter Biden’s legal team just days before he defied a congressional subpoena, raising serious questions about coordination between the two camps, critics said.
The confab between Hunter Biden’s white-shoe attorney Abbe Lowell and Anthony Bernal, a top aide to First Lady Jill Biden, happened at 6 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2023, in the East Wing, according to White House visitor logs.
The logs also show Lowell met with President Biden, though it was likely in the context of a White House Hanukkah reception held on the same day.
The Bernal-Lowell tête-à-tête took place just two days before Hunter Biden defied a House subpoena for a transcribed interview and caused a small frenzy at the Capitol by asserting his innocence at an impromptu press conference.
Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later admitted that President Biden had been “familiar” with what his son planned to say.
Hunter Biden ultimately came clean to House investigators two months later.
A month before his meeting with Lowell, Bernal was also subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee as part of their investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents.
The committee identified Bernal as someone who accessed classified material at the Penn Biden Center before they were officially discovered there in November 2022.
Bernal, informally known as First Lady Jill Biden’s “work husband,” has become an infamous figure in the White House, where allegations of bullying and sexual harassment have circulated for years.
The aide — who has been with Jill Biden since 2008 — is widely considered untouchable because of his closeness to the first family.
What, if any coordination existed between Hunter Biden and the White House has long been shrouded in secrecy — but House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky) told The Post the veil must be lifted.
“We’ve called on the White House to provide information about whether President Biden sought to influence or obstruct our investigation by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the subpoenas for a deposition as part of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry, but the White House has refused to provide any information,” said Comer.
“The White House must provide the public with information about the contents of this meeting in order to provide transparency to the American people.”
Jean-Pierre has repeatedly dodged inquiries on the subject.
“He’s a private citizen. He’s not a member of the White House. He doesn’t work here,” she said in January when asked about President Biden’s role in his son’s legal defense.
Reps for the White House insisted both of Bernal’s meetings stemmed from his attendance at the Hanukah reception — and insisted no Hunter Biden matters were discussed.
