Whistleblowers allege President Joe Biden and his family have taken up to $30 million in illicit bribes and payments from foreign sources tied to China, Russia and Ukraine. Biden denies it. Do Americans believe him? No. By more than 2-to-1, they say they believe the whistleblowers, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
The online poll of 1,341 adults, taken July 5-7, asked respondents how likely is it that the claims are true? The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.7 percentage points.
The results weren't close. Americans, by 56% to 27%, called Biden bribery charges "likely," rather than "unlikely." Further broken down, the "likely" responses included 34% who called it "very likely" compared to 21% who called it "somewhat likely." Among the "unlikely" responses, only 12% said it was "not at all likely," while 15% termed it "not very likely."
Among the remainder, 18% overall said they weren't sure.
The poll's pattern of revealing stark partisan differences remained intact, with Democrats (39% likely vs. 42% unlikely) on one side, and Republicans (80% likely vs. 9% unlikely) and independents (56% vs. 22%) on the other.
Indeed, of the 36 major demographic and political sectors tracked by the I&I/TIPP Poll, all had either an outright majority or plurality saying they believed Biden engaged in bribery except two: Democrats and liberals.
Even so, looked at a bit differently, when the 2.7-point margin of error is taken into account, even Democrats were split nearly equally on the question of whether Biden took a bribe. The president is in trouble even within his own party.
As such, the poll's findings poses serious questions about Biden's expressed desire for a second term. The investigations of his questionable, and at times dodgy, financial dealings while serving as vice president under Barack Obama are hurtling ahead, fueled by an ongoing congressional investigation.
Can Biden weather the political and legal storm?
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, the Kentucky Republican in charge of Congress' investigation of Biden, said that the president and his family might have raked in more than $40 million from foreign sources in return for making favorable decisions while in office, including the presidency.
“This was organized crime," said Comer, speaking in late June. "There’s no other way to define it.”
A growing pile of evidence doesn't look good for Biden.
A WhatsApp message from Joe Biden's son Hunter looks like a smoking gun. In it, he tells Gongwen "Kevin" Dong of CEFC, a CCP government-tied energy company, that he wants $10 million a year for the "joint venture" headed by Hunter and including Joe's brother James Biden, Tony Bobulinski, and Jim Bulger.
In that online missive, he pointedly notes that he is "sitting here with my father," a complete contradiction to Joe Biden's repeated claims he never took part in Hunter's business dealings.
"I'm tired of this Kevin," Hunter tells his Chinese counterpart. "I can make $5 million in salary from any law firm in America. If you think it's about money, it's not. The Biden's [sic] are the best at doing exactly what Chairman (of CEFC) wants from this partnership. Please let's not quibble over peanuts."
Joe Biden, for his part, has claimed Hunter "has not made money" from China and that "nothing was unethical" about his dealings in that country.
But that was before yet another whistleblower, Dr. Gal Luft, an Israeli citizen and one-time co-head with former CIA Director James Woolsey of a Washington think tank, Analysis of Global Security, claimed that the Justice Department and FBI began to make up alleged crimes against him after he revealed the Biden family's corrupt dealings with CEFC at a 2019 meeting with U.S. officials in Brussels.
During the Brussels interview, conducted by six Justice Department and FBI officials, Luft claimed that the Communist Party-linked CEFC was paying $100,000 a month to Hunter and $65,000 to his uncle Jim. In return, the Bidens would provide CEFC access to their FBI connections and help push China's Belt and Road Initiative.
According to Luft, he fled the U.S. out of concern that he couldn't get a fair trial for any charges made against him here. Worse, he said, a mole in the Justice Department “shared classified information with Hunter Biden and his Chinese partners” and tipped off the Bidens about the investigation into their dealings.
Luft, a former Israeli Army officer, has only recently emerged from hiding to speak in a 14-minute recording. In it, he makes clear his motivation isn't political.
“I, who volunteered to inform the U.S. government about a potential security breach and about compromising information about a man vying to be the next president, am now being hunted by the very same people who I informed — and may have to live on the run for the rest of my life on the run."
Luft said he is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, and has "no political motive or agenda." He came forward only out "out of deep concern that if the Bidens were to come to power, the country would be facing the same traumatic Russia collusion scandal — only this time with China. Sadly, because of the DOJ’s cover-up, this is exactly what happened.”
Editor's late-breaking note: According to a statement issued by the Justice Department on Monday, Gal Luft, a citizen of the United States and Israel, allegedly "subverted foreign agent registration laws in the U.S. in an attempt to promote Chinese policies by collaborating with a former high-ranking U.S. government official."
Meanwhile, the House probe of the Biden family's shady finances has uncovered "more than 20 companies (created by the Bidens and their business associates), according to bank records obtained by the House Oversight Committee — a system, GOP lawmakers say, that was meant to conceal money received from foreign nationals."
Sixteen of those companies were formed while Biden still held the vice presidency.
The list of Biden bribery allegations seems to be growing by the day. And remember, Biden has already been credibly accused of taking money from both Russian and Ukrainian officials, using family members as cutouts. Many of these events took place amid the 2020 presidential race.
The big question is: If any of these charges are shown to be true, can Biden weather the ensuing political storm? Or will he face a choice of impeachment or resignation, a la Richard Nixon, and thereby force the Democrats to find a new standard bearer in 2024?
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.
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