James Freeman on why Hunter Biden-Ron Klain email scoop is 'important'
Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Assistant Editor James Freeman reacts to emails revealing President Biden's White House chief of staff solicited money from Hunter Biden for the Vice President's residence in 2012.
Wall Street Journal Editorial Page assistant editor James Freeman said on Tuesday that while Hunter Biden is under federal investigation for his foreign business dealings, the latest development of the story calls into question President Biden’s denials.
"A lot of Americans never got the full story in the last election because there was an active suppression effort by social media and traditional media giants. Ideally, we’ll find out whether there are crimes here. You would like political justice and voters to have the information and to be able to make decisions," Freeman told "America’s Newsroom" as he discussed the latest developments with hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer.
New details show Biden's White House chief of staff Ron Klain reached out to Hunter in September 2012 for help in raising $20,000 for the Vice President's Residence Foundation (VPRF), telling him to "keep this low low key" to prevent "bad PR," according to emails reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The New York Times confirmed the authenticity of Hunter Biden's infamous laptop last month. (Randy Holmes via Getty Images)
Klain, who had left his chief of staff position in then-Vice President Biden's office a year earlier but was the foundation's chairman at the time of the emails, told Hunter that he needed to "tackle a piece of unpleasant business" and needed Hunter's help.
The Vice President's Residence Foundation is a nonprofit entity used to assist in preserving and furnishing the vice president's official residence located on U.S. Naval Observatory grounds.
The foundation's 2012 fiscal year ran from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012 - the same month Klain had emailed Hunter Biden asking for help in soliciting donations and when the foundation "resumed fundraising."
Hunter Biden is currently under federal investigation for potential violations of tax, money laundering and foreign lobbying laws through his past business relationships abroad, but Klain came to his defense on Sunday, telling ABC News that President Biden is "confident that his son didn’t break the law."
The 2012 emails come on the heels of previous reports showing the behind-the-scenes workings of Hunter Biden after Joe Biden had entered the vice president's office.
Freeman said Klain’s emails show that the White House narrative that President Biden has no connection to Hunter’s business dealings is "fiction."
"They are closely connected. There is a lot of evidence in the emails about the connections," he said.
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White House chief of staff Ron Klain attends an event with governors of Western states and members of the Biden administration on June 30, 2021, in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Perino questioned whether the Obama White House counsel's office was "nervous" about the situation at the time.
"That is one of the huge questions through the whole scandal. How did the White House counsel’s office allow any of this garbage and allow Joe Biden to go to Ukraine to conduct policy with his son trailing behind with a handout?" Freeman asked.
Perino added, "How did they allow Hunter to go on the plane with Joe Biden to China? Yeah. Obama will be at the White House today. But, I have a feeling they won’t ask him."
Fox News' Cameron Cawthornea and Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.
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