White House chief of staff Ron Klain contacted President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, in September 2012 to ask for a "low, low key" donation to the Vice Presidents Residence Foundation nonprofit.
Klain, who was the chair of the organization that helps to preserve and furnish the official residence of the vice president on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory, sent the email asking about "a piece of unpleasant business," according to Fox News Digital.
"The tax lawyers for the VP Residence Foundation have concluded that since the Cheney folks last raised money in 2007 and not 2008, we actually have to have some incoming funds before the end of this fiscal year (i.e., before 9/30/12 – next week) to remain eligible to be a 'public charity,'" Klain wrote.
"It's not much — we need to raise a total of $20,000 — so I'm hitting up a few very close friends on a very confidential basis to write checks of $2,000 each," he continued. "We need to keep this low, low key, because raising money for the residence now is bad PR — but it has to be done, so I'm trying to just collect the 10 checks of $2,000, get it done in a week, and then, we can do an event for the Residence Foundation after the election."
According to Fox News, Hunter Biden later forwarded this email to his longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin, who said in response: "Let's discuss this and some other bills on Monday. I assume you think you should do this? I wonder if they would take a corporate check from Owasco," a possible reference to Hunter Biden's law firm, Owasco PC.
Hunter Biden, Schwerin, and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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