‘That Is Not True!’ Biden Spox Battles CNN Anchor Over Hunter Biden — Accuses Him of Parroting Republicans

White House Spokesperson for Oversight and Investigations Ian Sams pushed back on CNN anchor Phil Mattingly over Hunter Biden, accusing him of parroting a GOP “shiny object” talking point.

Wednesday saw Hunter Biden deliver a scathing statement on Capitol Hill announcing he’d defy the GOP-led House Oversight Committee subpoena unless he could testify publicly.

Later in the day, Republicans formalized their impeachment inquiry in a 221 to 212 vote — despite widespread acknowledgment by journalists and even other Republicans that there is “no evidence” of wrongdoing by President Biden.

Sams was a guest on Thursday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, during which anchor Phil Mattingly grilled him about those developments.

Things got testy when Sams accused Mattingly of seizing on a “semantic” GOP talking point, and repeatedly pushed back on the suggestion that President Joe Biden was untruthful about his son’s business dealings:

PHIL MATTINGLY: In the statement that Hunter Biden made yesterday said, “Let me say it as clearly as I can. My father was not financially involved in my business.”.

He was unequivocal about that. But that is an evolution of where the president had been during the campaign, where the White House had been at the start of the administration. Not involved financially in the business is very different than never talked about the business, not been involved in the business at all. Was that an intentional point of clarity, do you think?

IAN SAMS: I actually dispute the whole premise of that question it’s.

PHIL MATTINGLY: Why?

IAN SAMS: It’s one of Jim Jordan’s favorite little shiny objects is to try to take a semantic thing and make an argument that isz, that is somehow far afield from what they’re actually focused on.

We’ve been extremely clear over and over again for years, and nothing has changed. The president was not in business with his son, period. They’re trying to make up all sorts of allegations and make up lies about him doing things that were wrong and–

PHIL MATTINGLY: Ian, with respect. I’m not citing Jim Jordan here. I was in some of the White House press briefings where it was said explicitly the president did not talk to his son about business dealing– that is very clearly not the case. And I think the statement from the White House has changed and I think been a little bit more precise over the course of the last several months. It’s what the president said on the campaign trail as well. I’m not saying this is like an impeachable offense or some grand indictment, but it is a fact that the president said one thing that ended up being not true.

IAN SAMS: Again. I dispute that. That’s that. That’s true. That is not true!

The truth is that he wasn’t in business with his son. The Republicans have been for years trying to make arguments that he was somehow wrapped up in all of this–.

PHIL MATTINGLY: Again, I’m not saying that he was in business with his son.

IAN SAMS: –over and over again. Those have been refuted. And so what they do is they try to take semantic games and try to distract from the actual truth, which is that all of these things have been debunked. These allegations are false, and they’re using their power in Congress to launch this impeachment inquiry over false allegations that have no basis in reality.

PHIL MATTINGLY: And it is certainly center stage for House Republicans as, as you noted, very critical negotiations about the president’s national security supplemental are ongoing, at least on the Senate side.

Watch above via CNN This Morning.

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